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                  enGender Impact: The World Bank’s Gender Impact Evaluation Database



  Do Teenagers Respond to HIV Risk Information? Evidence from a Field Experiment in
                                       Kenya
      Author(s)            Pascaline Dupas
      Contact              pdupas@stanford.edu

      Country              Kenya

  Organizing Theme         Gender Based Violence, Health

       Status              Completed

Intervention Category      Sexual Education

       Sector              Health, Nutrition & Population
                           We use a randomized experiment to test whether and what information changes teenagers’
                           sexual behavior in Kenya. Providing information on the relative risk of HIV infection by
                           partner’s age led to a 28 percent decrease in teen pregnancy, an objective proxy for the
                           incidence of unprotected sex. Self-reported sexual behavior data suggests substitution away
      Abstract
                           from older (riskier) partners and toward same-age partners. In contrast, the official
                           abstinence-only HIV curriculum had no impact on teen pregnancy. These results suggest
                           that teenagers are responsive to risk information, but their sexual behavior is more elastic
                           on the intensive than on the extensive margin.
 Gender Connection         Gender Focused Intervention

  Gender Outcomes          Reproductive health

     IE Design             Clustered Randomized Control Trial (Clustered at school level)
                           164 of the 328 primary schools were selected to receive the Teacher Training on
                           HIV/AIDS curriculum from the AIDS Control Unit of the Ministry of Education. The
                           treatment provided teachers a multiple week in-service training to three teachers per
    Intervention           school. The relative risk campaign first asked students to complete an anonymous survey
                           on how much they know about the distribution of HIV in the Kenyan population. They
                           then watched a video about "sugar daddies" and discussed the self-reported and actual
                           distribution of HIV in Kenya.
                           The training occurred over four months from February 2003 to May 2003. The Relative
 Intervention Period
                           Risk campaign was phased in from July 2004 to October 2004.
                           There were 328 primary schools included in the experiment. 163 were randomly selected
  Sample population        for treatment 1: the teacher training on the national HIV/AIDS curriculum, which focuses
                           on abstinence only. 71 schools received Treatment 2, the relative risk treatment.
Comparison conditions      State sponsored teacher training and control (no teacher training)

   Unit of analysis        Individual Level
                           There were home follow us in August and September 2005, and information on
  Evaluation Period
                           childbearing in July 2005.


   Last updated: 14 August 2013                                                                      1
                   enGender Impact: The World Bank’s Gender Impact Evaluation Database


                            The relative risk program led to a 28% decrease in teen pregnancy within a year.
                            Pregnancies that were averted would have been with much older partners. Additionally, the
        Results
                            relative risk intervention led to increased self-reported sexual activity among teenage boys
                            suggesting a substitution from older to younger sexual partners.
                            Because the survey data is anonymous it is impossible to test whether the treatment effect
Primary study limitations
                            varied with prior belief.
    Funding Source          The World Bank
                            Dupas, P. (2011) "Do Teenagers Respond to HIV Risk Information? Evidence from a
      Reference(s)
                            Field Experiment," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 3(1) 1-34.
    Link to Studies
                            http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?f=s&doi=10.1257/app.3.1.1
       Microdata




    Last updated: 14 August 2013                                                                      2