ix music, music videos, film, stories, drawing, and sculpting. It appeals to males as much as females. It includes an engaging, interactive workbook where they can apply all the concepts to their own lives. Finally, there is a Trusted Adult Connection activity for each lesson to build a bond by communicating with a parent, caring adult, or mentor on these very important issues. Love Notes is an adaptation of Relationship Smarts PLUS for older teens. Relationship Smarts PLUS (designed for younger teens) has been rigorously tested and is listed in the National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP), a service of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). In a five- year study with over 8,000 diverse youth, it demonstrated significant improvements in relationship knowledge, decreases in destructive verbal and physical aggression, increases in reasoning strategies, and positive changes in beliefs about healthy relationships as compared to those in control groups.2 Love Notes is now listed as an evidence-based, pregnancy-prevention program with the Office of Adolescent Health. A rigorous five-year study showed adolescent participants were significantly less likely than youth in the control group to report ever having had sex. At 12 months it showed significantly less pregnancy when compared to control groups.3 Notes: 1 Child Trends Research Brief (October 2009) Telling It Like It Is: Teen Perspectives on Romantic Relationships. childtrends.org 2 For more information on the Relationship Smarts Plus study (principal investigator Dr. Jennifer Kerpelman, Auburn University) see DibbleInstitute.org/?page_id=2942 3 Barbee, A. P., Cunningham, M. R., van Zyl, M. A., Antle, B. F., & Langley, C. N. (2017). Impact of Two Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Interventions on Risky Sexual Behavior: A Three-Arm Cluster Randomized Control Trial. American Journal of Public Health, 106(S1), S85-S90. Copyright 2018 Marline E. Pearson
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