In South Africa, Stepping Stones aimed to improve adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH) through training facilitators, a three hour education session and community mobilization. The intervention was associated with reduced HIV prevalence in young men and women, 16-23, after two years. Among men, the intervention reduced reported intimate partner violence, casual sex and problem drinking.
Living with their father in the home, parental strictness, and religiosity moderated the efficacy of the intervention in reducing unprotected intercourse. Self-efficacy to avoid risky situations and expected parental disapproval of their having intercourse, derived from Social Cognitive Theory, significantly mediated the intervention's effect on abstinence.