Building positive life skills the Smart Girls way: evaluation of a school-based sexual responsibility program for adolescent girls.

In response to the public health epidemic of teenage pregnancy, the present study investigated a new, gender-specific, school-based approach to adolescent pregnancy prevention for middle school girls called Smart Girls Life Skills Training(©) (Smart Girls). Participants included 854 students (633, experimental group; 221, control group) across three time points to assess change in social sexuality expectations, personal/self sexuality expectations, perceived susceptibility, and parent-adolescent communication. Girls who received the Smart Girls curriculum increased their personal/self sexuality expectations and improved some aspects of their parent-adolescent communication compared to control group participants. The evaluation provides initial evidence that Smart Girls is at least partially effective at changing personal/self sexuality expectations and parent-adolescent communication for middle school girls. Implications, recommendations, and next steps for school-based teen pregnancy prevention programs are offered.