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<title>Jay's World of Abstracts 00002: Healthy Teen Development Teleconference, Part 2: Blum</title>
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content="mcch, teen, development, prevention, intervention">
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content="An abstract of a presentation by Robert Wm. Blum, MD, MPH, PhD. at
the Fall 2002 Healthy Teen Development Teleconference.">
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<h2 align="right">Jay's World of Abstracts 00002</h2><hr>
<div align="center"><h1>Healthy Teen Development Teleconference II</h1>
<b>A presentation by Robert Wm. Blum, MD, MPH, PhD.</div>
<hr>
<i>[Standard disclaimer: The nature of abstracts are that they are pieces of
something larger. Not everyone is going to be happy with my choice of abstracts
from any larger work, so if you are dissatisfied, I would refer you to the original
document, which should be able to be found on the Internet. I encourage others to
make their own abstracts to satisfy their needs.</i>
<h3>Jay's Introduction</h3>
<p>Several people attended a two-day teleconference that
focused on current research regarding healthy teen development.
The following abstract was drawn from a presentation by Robert Wm.
Blum, MD, MPH, PhD.</p>
<h3>Abstract</h3>
<p>While teen pregnancy in the US has declined every year since
1991, it continues to be the highest in the industrialized world,
costing us $6.9 billion a year. </p>
<p>What has been learned about adolescent pregnancy prevention
programs? </p>
<ul>
<li>Sex education increases short-term knowledge but has <i>minimal
effect</i> on whether adolescents initiate sex or use
contraception. </li>
<li>Sexual education <i>does not</i> increase the likelihood
of initiating sexual activity. </li>
<li>With very few exceptions, programs focused on sex
education or the provision of contraceptives alone have <i>little
or no impact</i>. </li>
<li>Family planning services reduce unwanted adolescent
births through contraception and abortion. </li>
<li>School-based clinics have <i>not</i> been shown
consistently to reduce sexual activity or pregnancy. </li>
<li>Abstinence-only prevention programs have <i>not</i> been
shown to reduce sexual activity. </li>
<li>Most interventions are <i>not</i> based on theory; when
they are, they appear to have more impact. </li>
<li>Most interventions have <i>not</i> been informed by
research and most do not evaluate what they do. </li>
</ul>
<p>What do we know about the influence of parent-teen
communications? </p>
<ul>
<li>Parent/child connectedness (support, closeness, warmth)
is associated with an older age of first intercourse and
a lower frequency of sex during adolescence. </li>
<li>Parent attitudes and values disapproving of adolescent
sexual intercourse (or unprotected intercourse) is
associated with later age of sexual initiation. </li>
<li>The research is less clear as to the role of parental
supervision/regulation. Some studies suggest it is
associated with a delay in the onset of intercourse while
other studies show that strict parenting is associated
with a higher risk of early sexual initiation. </li>
</ul>
<p>It is uncertain to what extent and how parent/teen
communication about sex and contraception affects adolescent
sexual behaviors. </p>
<h2>Recent research from <br>
the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health)</h2>
<p>What questions does the present research address? </p>
<ul>
<li>Are teens aware of their mother's disapproval of their
having sex? <i>Of the mothers who strongly disapprove of
their teens having sex, 70% of their daughters and 54% of
their sons were aware of it. 56% of daughters and 71% of
sons were aware if their mother's disapproval was LESS
strong.</i> </li>
<li>Do mother's know if their teens have had sex? <i>If their
teens had NOT had sex, 97% of mothers were correct in
saying they had not. If the teens had sex, only 49% of
mothers were correct in saying their teens had sex.</i> </li>
<li>Do mothers talk to their teens about sex and birth
control? <i>The more strongly they disapproved of teens
having sex, the more likely they were to talk to their
teens about it. Mothers are more likely to talk a
"great deal" about sex and birth control with
their daughters than with their sons. Interestingly,
mothers are also more uncomfortable about talking about
sex and birth control with their daughters than with
their sons.</i> </li>
</ul>
<p>Things that were learned from the study: </p>
<ul>
<li>It is <i>what teens believe their parents believe</i>
about sex and birth control that makes the difference. </li>
<li>Teen perceptions are influenced by what parents say, but
so many more things influence their perceptions. </li>
<li>Younger teens and older boys who feel connected to their
mothers are less likely to have early sex. </li>
<li>When it comes to delaying the initiation of sexual
intercourse, caring and connectedness are important --
especially for younger teens. </li>
<li>Simply saying that parents disapprove of teen sex is not
enough. Clearly, some teens <i>do not</i> get the
message. When they do get the message, teens are more
likely to delay sexual intercourse. </li>
<li>While so much is made these days over what we should say
to our kids about sex, other aspects of parenting may
have a greater influence. </li>
<li>About 50% of parents seem to be unaware that their teens
have started to have sex. </li>
<li>Mothers may be more oriented toward influencing their
daughter's sexual behavior and more oriented to
influencing their son's risk of infection and early
parenting. </li>
<li>There are no simple answers for parents when it comes to
talking to kids about birth control. </li>
<li>To the extent that our messages, values, and behaviors as
parents are more consistent, teens may be able to
comprehend what we believe and what we say. </li>
</ul>
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