Report: 'Best Friends' cuts risky behavior

WASHINGTON, April 28 (UPI) -- Study results indicate girls in the U.S. Best Friends abstinence program are much less likely to have premarital sex, smoke or use drugs.

Study author Robert Lerner told The Washington Times Best Friends participants of high school age were 100 times less likely to engage in premarital sex than their peers outside the program.

Lerner said he compared data from 2,700 Best Friends participants and data from the federal Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey.

Best Friends members were about 120 times less likely to have premarital sex, 26 times less likely to use illegal drugs, nine times less likely to smoke and three times more likely not to use alcohol, the Times said.

The Best Friends program, the group's Web site says, is a "school-based character-building program for girls" in sixth grade through high school. It supports "abstinence-only" ideals and does not teach its participants about contraception.

The study appeared in Adolescent and Family Health, a publication of the Institute for Youth Development.