• Paul A Burns, Fei Teng, Angela A Omondi, E Thomaseo Burton, and Lori Ward.
• From the John D. Bower School of Population Health, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, and the University of Tennessee Medical Center, Le Bonheur Children's Hospital, Memphis.
• South. Med. J. 2022 May 1; 115 (5): 310-314.

ObjectivesAdolescents and young adults represent the largest group of new human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections in the United States, especially in the South. We wanted to determine whether abstinence only until marriage (AOUM) sex education programs were effective in reducing HIV vulnerability among youth in Mississippi.MethodsUsing the 2015 Mississippi Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, we examined the effect of AOUM sex education among a sample of youth ages 12 to 18 years on 4 HIV-related sexual risk behaviors.ResultsCompared with youth not enrolled in AOUM sex education, we found no statistically significant differences on sexual risk behaviors. Race, age, and gender were significant risk factors in predicting sexual risk behavior.ConclusionsAOUM sex education programs are ineffective in reducing HIV vulnerability among youth in Mississippi. There is an urgent need to implement comprehensive sex education if we are to reduce the numbers of new HIV infections among youth and achieve our goals of ending the HIV epidemic by 2030.

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