Teen Pregnancy Prevention Outcomes: Implications for Social Work Practice

Abstract

Teen pregnancy rates have begun to decline after a 25-year period of stability; nevertheless, more than 1 million adolescents between the ages of 15 and 19 become pregnant each year. Teen pregnancy prevention programs have emerged to postpone unwanted pregnancies to the benefit of the children involved and the public fiscally. This three-year federally funded Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention program was designed as a 9-week (18 classroom hours) primary prevention intervention for young adolescents. Three facets of adolescents' experience were targeted in the intervention design: attitudes, dating behaviors, and knowledge. Results of the intervention suggest that the treatment group, on average, showed more positive attitudes associated with adolescent sexuality than those in the control group. Knowledge inventory results were not found to be statistically significant. Significant change in dating behavior was also not found in this study. Implications of short-term interventions for adolescents are discussed.