Many programs that attempt to prevent teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease among young people include a self-esteem component as part of the intervention. Some research has indicated that area specific self-esteem scores (home and school), in contrast to generalized measures of self-esteem, are higher among those who delay initiation of sexual intercourse. Little work has been done to investigate how personal values regarding sex before marriage and actual sexual behavior might be related to self-esteem. In this study we examined area specific self-esteem scores by sexual behavior relative to the students' own values concerning the appropriateness of participation in sexual intercourse before marriage. Participants in the study were Subjects for this study were 1,077 students in grades 6-8 attending school in a Texas school district located along the U.S. - Mexican border. This was a predominately Hispanic school district, (98.5% of the students in the district). The vast majority of the students in the district (88.5%) were classified as “economically disadvantaged.” We asked students if they had ever had sexual intercourse (yes, no ) and if they had participated in sexual intercourse in the last month (yes, no). Respondents also indicated on a four point scale, from strongly agree to strongly disagree, their response to the statement "People should not have sex before marriage". Data were analyzed using SAS Program Proc GLM, to perform a 3 way (values x behavior x gender) ANOVA for each of the three area specific self-esteem scores (peer, school, and home) and for both sexual intercourse ever and sexual intercourse in the last month. Results indicate significant main effects for values, with those who agreed with the values statement scoring significantly higher on peer, school, and home self-esteem. Significant main effects for behavior were found for sexual intercourse ever and school and home self-esteem, as well as sex in the last month and school and home self-esteem. In each case participants had lower self-esteem scores than non-participants. There was also a significant values x gender interactions for school self-esteem and significant values x gender x behavior interaction for home self-esteem scores for both sexual intercourse ever and sexual intercourse in the last month. Results should be of interest to curriculum planners and others interested in the role of values and self-esteem in adolescent sexual behavior.