The evaluation of peer education in Western Cape schools (EPEP): A longitudinal study 2013 - Time 1

Description: The purpose of this data collection was to measure change in attitudes, knowledge and behaviour of Grade 8 and Grade 9 learners on a set of pre-identified indicators in relation to peer education and HIV/AIDS. This is the second data set obtained from three phases of collections which were analysed to explore whether peer education in our sample of schools had achieved the set objectives. It contains 287 variables and 2675 cases. The following topics were covered throughout the three sets of data collection: respondent's demographic data, respondent's school data, exposure to Peer Education, future orientation, sensation seeking and risk taking behaviour, drug and alcohol use, sexual efficacy, sexual experience, HIV/AIDS knowledge, HIV/AIDS attitudes, HIV/AIDS behaviours and intentions, decision making, healthy and unhealthy relationships and gender and social support. Abstract: The purpose of this data collection was to measure change in attitudes, knowledge and behaviour of Grade 8 and Grade 9 learners on a set of pre-identified indicators in relation to peer education and HIV/AIDS. The data obtained from three phases was collated and analysed to explore whether peer education in our sample of schools had achieved the set objectives. A comparison was drawn at baseline between the intervention and control samples, some differences were found between the two groups which suggest that there may be differences that were not apparent during the random selection process. At baseline and Time 1, the intervention schools were compared, the results indicated that the interventions produced statistically better outcomes with regard to future orientation, self-efficacy, knowledge regarding HIV transmission, knowledge regarding HIV prevention and knowledge in terms of a healthy relationship. Intervention schools were then compared between baseline and Time 2. Results indicated that over a longer period of time the intervention yielded statistically better outcomes with regard to self-efficacy and knowledge of HIV transmission. These results at Time 2 are only statistically different from those at Time 1 with regard to self-efficacy.