Teen Pregnancy Prevention: Do Any Programs Work?
Josefina J. Card Sociometrics Corporation, Los Altos, California 94022; e-mail:
jjcard@socio.com ▪ Abstract
This paper begins with a review of the problem of teen pregnancy in the United States. Domestic trends are compared with those of other developed countries. Antecedents of the problem are discussed. New developments in addressing the problem are then described, including the following: (a) a renewed emphasis on abstinence on the one hand; (b) a move toward a more positive view of teen sexuality on the other; (c) the development of new prevention initiatives such as STD/HIV/AIDS prevention programs, community-wide teen pregnancy prevention collaboratives, broad-based youth development programs, and state and local government initiatives; and (d) the lauching of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. An analysis of the different ways in which the problem can be framed and the implications for solutions of the problem follow. Examples of promising teen pregnancy and STD/HIV/AIDS prevention programs are provided. The paper ends with a recommendation for an eclectic approach to framing the problem and possible solutions.
Gender factors associated with sexual abstinent behaviour of rural South African high school going youth in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Health Education Research (2008)
Early to Bed: A Study of Adaptation Among Sexually Active Urban Adolescent Girls Younger Than Age Sixteen
Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 44(4):358-367 (2005)
Ambivalence and Pregnancy: Adolescents' Attitudes, Contraceptive Use and Pregnancy
Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health 36(06):248-257 (2005)
Health Inequalities: Teenage pregnancy: trends, characteristics and outcomes in South Australia and Australia
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 26(2):125-131 (2002)