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The Effects of State‐Mandated Abstinence‐Based Sex Education on Teen Health Outcomes
Author(s) -
Carr Jillian B.,
Packham Analisa
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
health economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.55
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1099-1050
pISSN - 1057-9230
DOI - 10.1002/hec.3315
Subject(s) - abstinence , abortion , teen pregnancy , sex education , sexual abstinence , affect (linguistics) , demography , state (computer science) , pregnancy , psychology , reproductive health , medicine , family planning , population , sociology , psychiatry , research methodology , genetics , communication , algorithm , computer science , biology
Summary In 2011, the USA had the second highest teen birth rate of any developed nation, according to the World Bank, [, ]. In an effort to lower teen pregnancy rates, several states have enacted policies requiring abstinence‐based sex education. In this study, we utilize a difference‐in‐differences research design to analyze the causal effects of state‐level sex education policies from 2000–2011 on various teen sexual health outcomes. We find that state‐level abstinence education mandates have no effect on teen birth rates or abortion rates, although we find that state‐level policies may affect teen sexually transmitted disease rates in some states. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.