Evaluation outcomes of a sex education strategy in high schools of Pavia (Italy).

Aim:We aimed to provide process and effectiveness evaluations of a sex education intervention realized with interactive techniques in high schools of Pavia (Italy).Methods:Six public high schools, divided into ‘treated’ and ‘control’ units, voluntarily joined this mixed-methods study. Only second-year classes were enrolled: treated adolescents followed a sex education course, performed by trained ‘near-peer educators’ (undergraduate medical students) with interactive techniques. All adolescents compiled an anonymous effectiveness evaluation questionnaire at baseline (pre-test) and 3 months later (post-test). Sexual knowledge and reported behavioural changes were compared between the two groups through linear mixed-effects models. The process was assessed through a satisfaction questionnaire for treated students, monitoring cards for working group members and cards/diaries for educators.Results:The final sample consisted of 547 treated and 355 control adolescents (mean age = 15.28 ± 0.61 years). Highly sig...