School Health Program News - Education Development Center

School Health Program NewsStudy Links TeenPregnancy Research,ProgramsFour sets of factors are associatedwith risky sexual behaviors and teenpregnancy, according to the authorsof a new study. To be successful, programsmust address: race andethnicity, socioeconomic status, socialinfluences, and attitudes towardcontraception, condoms, pregnancy,and safer-sex behavioral skills.The report, appearing in Perspectiveson Sexual and Reproductive Health,makes several recommendations:• Programs should begin earlierand target younger adolescents.• New program models for minorityteenagers need to be developed.• Risk reduction programs need tobe systematically linked to otheryouth programs that directly addresssocioeconomic disadvantages.• Programs need to understandthat many youth lack the skills topractice safer sex.• Programs must address the influenceof peer groups, socialnorms, and pressures to havesex.• Programs for adolescents shouldnot assume that sexual behavioris volitional.• Programs should not assumethat sexual activity among teenagersis limited to vaginal sex.• Programs should not take forgranted that teenagers areunambivalent about preventingpregnancy.The study also identifies four keybarriers to program success, which,it contends, research must address:• Learning disabilities and cognitiveimmaturity, which are linkedto early onset of sex• Insufficient male involvement incurrent pregnancy preventionprograms• Males’ very early sexual activity,which compromises programs’effectiveness• One-time visits to clinics, whichpose a considerable barrier tolasting results of initiativesAnswers to research questions aboutthese barriers should enhance thedevelopment and quality of sexualrisk reduction policies and programs.The authors conclude thatthis type of programmatic researchwill fundamentally strengthen thetenuous linkages between the research,program, and policy communities.The report’s authors are DebraKalmuss, Andrew Davidson, AlwynCohall, Danielle Laraque, and CarolCassell. Titled “Preventing SexualRisk Behaviors and PregnancyAmong Teenagers: Linking Researchand Programs,” the reportappears in the March/April 2003 issueof Perspectives on Sexual and ReproductiveHealth. It is publishedthrough the Alan Guttmacher Instituteand can be downloaded atwww.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals3598703.html.California ProgramShows Health,Academic ResultsA California program aimed at reducingearly sexual activity, teenpregnancy, and childbearing amonga high-risk group, sisters of pregnantand parenting teens, has shown positiveresults. A journal article entitled“An Evaluation of California’s AdolescentSibling Pregnancy PreventionProgram” reports that the programreduced several pregnancy-relatedrisk behaviors after ninemonths of enrollment. Youngwomen in the program were significantlyless likely than their peers tobecome pregnant, begin having sex,or skip school.California’s Adolescent Sibling PregnancyPrevention program targetssisters of adolescents who have beenpregnant or are parents. The servicesprovided to participants in theprogram included a combination ofindividual case management, academicguidance, training in decisionmaking, self-esteem development,and education about contraception.Young women in the program were43 percent less likely to becomepregnant than those who did notparticipate. Not only did youngwomen initiate sexual activity atlower rates than young women in thecomparison group, these youngwomen also had lower rates of truancy,and they registered strongerand more positive feelings about remainingabstinent.Study results are reported in detailin the article written by Patricia East,Elizabeth Keiernan, and GilbertoChavez, which appears in theMarch/April 2003 issue of Perspectiveson Sexual and Reproductive Health.You can download the full article atwww.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/3506203.18