Adolescents, sexuality education, and yoga: examining the effectiveness of some programs

Purpose This paper aims to report a study on the impact of sexuality education sessions (SE sessions) compared to SE sessions with an added component of yoga education program (YEP) sessions (SE + YEP sessions) on community-dwelling adolescents’ sexual health attitudes, self-regulation, awareness and abstinence. Design/methodology/approach A pre- and post-test active comparison group design was used. Two scales were used to assess the outcomes: the sexual risks scale (SRS) and the sexual abstinence scale (SAS). Findings Adolescents who participated in the SE + YEP sessions reported lower scores on the SRS measure and higher scores on the SAS measure (p < 0.01, d = 0.75 −0.88). The SE + YEP sessions were most effective for girls, adolescents whose primary caregivers had higher formal education, adolescents who had no siblings and whose program compliance was higher (>50% sessions attended and homework sessions completed). Moreover, program compliance was also in turn higher, within the said sub-cohort of participant adolescents. Results of the hierarchical regression models suggested that homework completion followed by attendance at the SE + YEP sessions were strongest predictors of post-test outcome score changes. Originality/value Overall results suggest that SE sessions supplemented with yoga education sessions can potentially mitigate adolescents’ sexually risky attitudes and promote self-regulation, sex positivity and awareness of bodily agency and safer choices or abstinence. Some modifications may be needed for boys, adolescents whose primary caregivers have lower formal education and adolescents with siblings.