UNDERSTANDING THE IMPACT OF EFFECTIVE TEENAGE PREGNANCY PREVENTION PROGRAMS

A review of five rigorously evaluated adolescent pregnancy prevention programs shows that all five incorporate an emphasis on abstinence or delay of sexual initiation training iri decision-making and negotiatio n skills, and education on sexuality and contraception. Four of the fi ve directly or indirectly provide access to contraceptive services Com parisons between treatment and control groups show that all four progr ams that measured changes in rates of sexual initiation among adolesce nts had a significant effect on that outcome, reducing the proportion of adolescents who initiated sexual activity by as much as 15 percenta ge points; the programs were most successful when they targeted younge r adolescents. Three of these four programs also significantly increas ed rates of contraceptive use among participants relative to controls; the most successful programs, which increased contraceptive use by as much as 22 percentage points, provided access to contraceptive servic es and targeted adolescents who were younger and those who were not ye t sexually experienced. Two programs significantly decreased the propo rtion of adolescents who became pregnant; these programs were the two that were most active in providing access to contraceptive services.