A Media Literacy Education Approach to Sexual Health Promotion: Immediate Effects of <i>Media Aware</i> on the Sexual Health Cognitions of Young Adult Community College Students

This study evaluates the efficacy of <i>Media Aware</i>, a comprehensive sex education program with a media literacy education approach, for improving sexual health cognitions among 1139 U.S. community college students (ages 18-19) from 23 campuses. Students were randomized to condition (intervention or delayed-intervention control) and completed pretest and posttest questionnaires. Several main effects of the intervention were found at posttest, including reduced perceived realism of media messages, positive attitudes about risky sex, and descriptive normative beliefs about unprotected and risky sexual activity, and increased self-efficacy to use dental dams. Gender and pretest levels moderated some intervention effects. Women in the intervention group reported less identification with media messages compared to women in the control group. Students in the intervention group who reported lower pretest levels of self-efficacy to use dental dams and to refuse unprotected sex had higher posttest levels on those outcomes as compared with the control group. Students in the intervention group who reported higher pretest levels of normative beliefs about risky sexual activity had lower posttest levels on those outcomes as compared with the control group. Results suggest that <i>Media Aware</i> is a promising method to improve the sexual health of young adults attending community college.