The Beat: Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention and Abstinence Education
"The Protective Effect of Family Strengths in Childhood against Adolescent Pregnancy and Its Long-Term Psychosocial Consequences" (PDF, 885 KB). The Permanente Journal, Vol. 14, No. 3, Fall 2010.
What it's about: This study examines how family strengths, such as closeness, support, loyalty, protection, love, and responsiveness to healthcare needs, may protect teens from getting pregnant, having risky sex and dealing with other psychological and social problems. The researchers surveyed over 4,000 young women about childhood abuse, substance abuse in the home, domestic violence, mental illness and other family problems during the first 18 years of their lives.
Why read it: Previous research suggests that positive childhood experiences protect young women from becoming pregnant as teens. However, not many studies have considered how these strengths...
In February, the Guttmacher Institute released “Facts on American Teens' Sexual and Reproductive Health,” a survey of over two-dozen recent studies and publications on the topic of adolescent sexual behavior. This is the first such survey from the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit that promotes sexual and reproductive health, since 2009.
Laura Lindberg, a senior research associate at Guttmacher, spoke with NCFY about the report’s implications for youth workers and organizations that aim to prevent teen preganancy.
NCFY: Can you summarize the general trends in teen pregnancy and contraception?
LINDBERG: The major trends are first, a decline in teen pregnancy over the last two decades. It’s been declining relatively steadily since a high in 1991. And second, there has been a slight delay in the...
“Classroom Goal Structures and HIV and Pregnancy Prevention Education in Rural High School Health Classrooms” (abstract). Journal of Research on Adolescence, 21(4), 904–922 (December 2011).
What it’s about: Researchers surveyed 5,000 rural high school students to find out what kind of classroom environment helps students learn more about sexual health and then put that learning to use. Should teachers stress the material’s importance or emphasize getting good grades? Students answered the survey before the class began and then three months and one year after the class ended.
Why read it: We know there are a number of good curricula for teaching teens about sexual health. We also know that students do better in traditional subjects like English, math and science when teachers emphasize learning for learning...
“Pregnancy and Mental Health of Young Homeless Women” (abstract). American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, Vol. 81, No. 2, April 2011.
What it’s about: This study explores the experiences and mental health of homeless young women who are pregnant or have children. The researchers looked at 222 homeless 16- to 19-year-old girls who were sexually active at the beginning of the three-year study. Data came from from the Midwest Longitudinal Study of Homeless Adolescents.
Why read it: We know that homeless young women in the United States are much more likely to become pregnant than their peers. But few studies have looked at mental health or other stresses that negatively affect young homeless mothers. A good understanding of what homeless young moms go through may help youth workers tailor their services.
Biggest...
In honor of Sexually Transmitted Disease Awareness Month, in April, NCFY asked two longtime sexual health educators to recommend their favorite online resources on STDs.
Monica Rodriguez is president of the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States, or SIECUS. Deborah Mathis is administrative chief of women’s health at the University of Pennsylvania’s Student Health Center.
Here are the sites they recommend:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Sexual Health Pages
Mathis likes the CDC’s accurate, easy-to-read Web pages on a range of sexual health topics. “They make a great stepping stone,” she says.
Offerings include interactive charts on reported rates of various STDs by age and PDFs of young people’s STD rates in each state, as well as bilingual STD fact sheets.
“The CDC just amped up their site in time for STD Awareness Month,”...
Become a part of the Department that touches the lives of every American! At the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) you can give back to your community, state, and country by making a difference in the lives of Americans everywhere.
As a Supervisory Adolescent Development and Support Program Specialist in the Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Family and Youth Services Bureau, Division of Adolescent Development and Support, you will serve as Director of the Division responsible for performing a variety of complex services related to runaway homeless youth and teen pregnancy prevention programs.
See full job ad.
Deadline for applications: April 4, 2012
Births among African American teens have fallen a whopping 47 percent since the early 1990s. Still, half of all African American girls in the United States will get pregnant at least once before their 20th birthdays.
The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy recently teamed up with ESSENCE magazine to survey 1,500 African American youth, ages 13 to 21. The research team wanted to better understand the young people's attitudes on sex, dating, relationships and the media. NCFY spoke with Paula Parker-Sawyers, who directs outreach and partnerships at the National Campaign, about the survey and how youth workers can best help all young people avoid unintended pregnancy.
NCFY: Were any of the findings from the survey surprising?
Parker-Sawyers: I would say they were enlightening,...
Going to a clinic or getting tested for sexually transmitted infections can be scary for young people, especially if they don't know what to expect. To help youth get over the hurdle of fear, a group of youth in New York City has produced several videos that encourage their peers to take care of their sexual health.
Part of a series written by and starring members of Community Healthcare Network's teen health program, the videos could be incorporated into life skills classes or sexual health workshops.
"Teen Clinic Tour": A young woman visits a teen-health clinic for the first time.
...
This month, we’re highlighting the best NCFY Web content of the past year.
Preventing teen pregnancy is a priority of the federal government, with several new programs launched last year by the Department of Health and Human Services. So in May, NCFY devoted an issue of its online magazine for youth workers, The Exchange, to teen pregnancy prevention.
We looked at approaches that have been shown to reduce teen pregnancy, ways to involve young men in the effort, and programs that work with teen moms to keep them from getting pregnant again. The issue won a MarCom Award, which honors excellence in communication.
Teen pregnancy prevention was in the news again last month when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that the U.S. teen birth rate declined 9 percent in 2010, hitting the lowest level ever reported.
Observers say...
As the director of Students Against Domestic Abuse (SADA) in Newport, RI, Jessica Walsh saw youth during regular program meetings, but some came more often than others and she wasn’t having much luck contacting them by phone or text messaging. After talking to a few young people, she realized, to her surprise, that youth would respond much more quickly through Facebook or Twitter than through the more seemingly immediate means.
The answer was right under her nose—or rather, floating above her. Turns out, many youth couldn’t afford their monthly phone bills, but public wi-fi in Newport allowed them to access the free web applications on their mobile phones. Now, the bulk of SADA’s group communication and organizing takes place online, through its Facebook page and through online applications like hkupwithrespect.com or thatsnotcool.com that foster discussion about...
