ABSTINENCE-ONLY SEXUAL EDUCATION VS. COMPREHENSIVE SEXUAL EDUCATION, WITH EMPHASIS ON THE ATTITUDES, KNOWLEDGE, AND BEHAVIORS OF ADOLESCENTS

I would like to thank my family and friends for all of their support throughout the years. I would have never been able to accomplish all that I have without them. I would also like to thank my advisor, Timothy Quigley, for all of his patience and support in the completion of this paper. ii In 2003, the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance survey reported that 46.7 % of high school students had been sexually active.1 In 2000, 9.1 million of the 18.9 million new cases of STDs came from young people age 15-24.2 Due to these statistics, there is an ongoing debate concerning teenage sexual education in the United States and how to make a greater impact on the attitudes, knowledge, and behavior of adolescents. Purpose: To determine whether Abstinence-Only or Comprehensive sexual education has more of an impact on the attitudes, knowledge and sexual behaviors of adolescents. Methods: An evidence based literature review was completed using published studies involving Abstinence-Only and Comprehensive sexual education. These studies were then evaluated t