38 Years Ago
Adolescent Pregnancy: A New Look at a Continuing Problem
[We] should be advocating greater attention to the prevention of adolescent pregnancy. A first step . . . would be an increase in sex education, including the use of contraceptives. . . . [M]ost school-based programs are too little and too late. While actively promoting more progressive attitudes among school officials and school boards, those concerned with adolescent pregnancy also should consider encouraging parents to assume more responsibility in regard to sex education. . . . [E]ight of ten parents of teenage children felt that parents should educate their children about birth control. . . . [P]arent-child communication about sex . . . was associated with postponing sexual activity and more effective contraceptive practice.
From AJPH, March 1980, p. 776
50 Years Ago
Adolescent Pregnancy: A Hospital-Based Program for Primary Prevention
A problem of considerable importance among adolescents is that of pregnancy. While an increasing number of health services are being made available to pregnant teenagers, adolescent services have been essentially devoid of any attempt at primary prevention of this extremely serious sociomedical problem. In part, this has resulted from the practical difficulties involved in identifying the high-risk population to whom such preventive services should be directed and in determining the optimal types of service to be provided. In addition, however, the strong emotional responses to this problem in both professional and lay communities have deterred the establishment of such programs.
From AJPH, May 1968, p. 849
This AJPH supplement on adolescent pregnancy prevention presents scholarly articles on how Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) projects take a holistic approach to pregnancy prevention among vulnerable youths. PREP grantees teach abstinence and contraceptive education to youths aged 10 to 19 years who are homeless, are in or aging out of foster care, live in rural areas or in geographic areas with high adolescent birth rates, or come from racial or ethnic minority groups.
Adolescent birth rates are at a record low in the United States. In 2016, the birth rate for youths aged 15 to 19 years reached a historic low of 20.3 births per 1000 adolescents. Since 1991, which is the first year the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began monitoring adolescent sexual behavior, the majority of youths across racial and ethnic backgrounds have not had sex, and the number of adolescent births has decreased by more than two thirds.
Although we have made progress, rates of adolescent births remain disproportionally higher among vulnerable youths and in certain geographical areas. Too many of our youths become parents before they are adults themselves, and the consequences of adolescent pregnancy and childbearing can carry high health, emotional, social, and financial costs for both adolescent parents and their children. The Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF), Family and Youth Services Bureau’s Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention (APP) Program (see also http://bit.ly/2FBBIGI) is committed to education and support of healthy choices among youths, while enhancing efforts to increase the number of youths who are waiting to have sex.
While fewer adolescent are having sex, those who are having sex are at greater risk for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)—young people aged 15 to 24 years account for half of new STDs reported annually.
To prevent adolescent sexual activity, pregnancy, the spread of STDs, and other risky behaviors among adolescents, the APP Program supports state, tribal, and community efforts to provide medically accurate information that is both culturally relevant and age appropriate. Grantees take a holistic approach to reduce factors that put youths at risk and to boost factors that protect them by incorporating interventions that include adulthood preparation and healthy decision-making. These grants, as mandated by legislation, provide vulnerable populations of youths with information about waiting to have sex, understanding how contraception reduces but does not eliminate risk, and the benefits of sexual risk avoidance. Annually, the APP Program serves nearly a half million youths.
The APP Program administers multiple prevention education programs across 159 grantees. Four PREP projects educate youths on abstinence and contraception: State PREP, Competitive PREP, Tribal PREP, and the Personal Responsibility Education Innovative Strategies program. Another program includes states that receive funding to implement Title V State Abstinence Education projects. A third program is the Sexual Risk Avoidance Education Program that awards grants to community-based organizations to educate youths on delaying sex until marriage and to reduce other risky behaviors. Almost one third of PREP programs serve vulnerable youths, such as those in child welfare and juvenile justice systems. This matters because youths in these systems are two times more likely as their peers to become adolescent parents.
This publication and other APP Program initiatives demonstrate our work to close the gap through the administration of funding to implement innovative, educational strategies to reduce adolescent sexual risk, prevent pregnancy among vulnerable populations, empower youths to thrive both now and in the future, and inform the field through dissemination and awareness efforts.
Biography
