Objective Determining the efficacy of a life-skills' programme within the context of a school health promotion programme using teenagers from a high-school in the district of Huancavelica, Peru during school year 2006. Methods This was non-equivalent experimental research with pre-test and post-test. The subjects consisted of 284 high school students. The variables analyzed were communication, self esteem, assertiveness, decision making, sex and age. Results There was a significant increase in the experimental group's communication and assertiveness skills' development. There were no significant differences in decision-making and self-esteem skills. Discussion The life-skills' programme was effective during one school year, especially in terms of learning and developing communication and assertiveness skills. However, self-esteem and decision-making skills did not present a statistically significance difference. Programme implementation must thus be redirected and the life-skills' programme should be implemented throughout all high-school years.