The Effectiveness of Peer Educator Programs on Adolescent Attitudes in Preventing Unwanted Pregnancy

Abstract

Background: Unwanted pregnancy (UP) among adolescents has been a serious issue that affected physical, psychological, and social health. One effective educational approach to raise adolescent awareness on pregnancy prevention was through peer educator programs.

Objective: This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of peer educator programs in changing adolescent attitudes toward preventing unwanted pregnancy.

Methods: This research used a quasi-experimental method with a pretest-posttest control group design. The study was conducted at SMA Negeri 2 Muara Badak from January to March 2025. The sample consisted of 60 eleventh-grade students selected using purposive sampling and divided equally into an intervention group and a control group (30 each). The intervention group received peer educator-led education over three sessions, while the control group received no intervention. The research instrument was a validated and reliable closed-ended questionnaire consisting of 10 Likert-scale items (1–5) assessing adolescent attitudes. Data were collected before and after the intervention and analyzed using paired t-test and independent t-test with SPSS.

Results: There was a significant increase in attitude scores in the intervention group from 30.1 ± 4.2 to 39.2 ± 3.8 (p = 0.000), while the control group showed no significant change, increasing only from 30.6 ± 4.0 to 31.2 ± 4.1 (p = 0.071). The comparison of posttest scores between groups also showed a significant difference (p = 0.001).

Conclusion: The peer educator program proved effective in improving adolescent attitudes toward unwanted pregnancy prevention. Peer-based interventions are recommended as a strategic method in adolescent reproductive health education.