Making Proud Choices! (MPC) Impact Evaluation

Making Proud Choices! (MPC) is a popular evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention program that had not been rigorously evaluated since one initial study in 1998. In 2017, the Office of Population Affairs (OPA) launched a new study to assess the program’s effectiveness.

Key Questions

MPC implementation: How was MPC delivered and what were the experiences of health educators and youth in the study?
What was the effect of MPC on the following risk and protective factors that are antecedents to sexual behavior?: Knowledge of HIV/STIs, pregnancy, condoms, and other forms of contraception; beliefs about sexual activity as a teen, communication with partners, and condom use; attitudes about condom use; skill and self-efficacy related to condom use, condom use negotiation, and refusal.
What was the effect of MPC on the following sexual behavior outcomes?: Sexual initiation; frequency of sex; having sex without a condom; having vaginal sex without birth control.
What was the effect of MPC on the incidence of the following longer-term health outcomes?: Pregnancy; STIs (including HIV).
Was the effect of MPC the same across cities, genders, instances of random assignment, or sexual experiences measured at baseline?

Study Design

This study used a cluster randomized controlled trial design and included 31 randomized clusters and more than 2,800 youth in 9^th and 10^th grades. Data was collected at baseline and six-months after the end of programming.

Study Findings

The study found that MPC had statistically significant and favorable impacts on 9 of 10 risk and protective factors and a statistically significant and favorable impact on one sexual behavior. Find more information in the evaluation report and fact sheet.