Teenage Pregnancy Prevention Programs: What Have We Learned?

• NCJ Number: 120801
• Author(s): T Ooms; L Herendeen
• Date Published: 1989
• Length: 29 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Charles Stewart Mott Foundation
• Sale Source: American Assoc for Marriage and Family Therapy
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Meeting highlights and background briefing report of a seminar titled "Family Centered Social Policy: The Emerging Agenda," US Capitol, Washington, DC, May 26, 1989

Annotation

Panelists participating in this family impact seminar examined recent research on teenage pregnancy prevention programs.

Abstract

In presenting an overview of trends in adolescent pregnancy, the first panelist noted that there are two points of intervention at which programs can attempt to reduce teenage pregnancy. Programs can teach adolescents to postpone the initiation of sexual activity, or they can increase the use of contraceptives among the sexually active. The second panelist identified ways of strengthening adolescent pregnancy prevention programs, while the third panelist outlined some of the difficulties such programs encounter in producing measurable results. It was pointed out that program goals need to be specific and that an evaluation component should be built in at a program's inception. The final panelist reported that research and evaluation findings have led to the development of the "life options" approach to teenage pregnancy prevention. This approach offers a comprehensive solution based on traditional prevention methods (sex education and contraception), combined with improvements in education, job training, and community development. The background briefing report examines determinants of teenage pregnancy, goals and types of pregnancy prevention programs, family planning and school-based clinics, family involvement as a pregnancy prevention strategy, and the Federal role in teenage pregnancy prevention. 45 references, 1 figure.