Research Update: Teen Pregnancy

Child Trends Senior Scholar Kristen Anderson Moore, Ph.d., received the Health Teen Network's Researcher of the Year award at its annual conference this week. Dr. Moore's keynote presentation, What If We Took Research Seriously: What Would Teen Pregnancy Programs Look Like?

Dr. Moore pointed out the following:

• The Teen Birth Rate has declined for decades and is less than half of what it was in 1960
• There was a 5 percent increase between 2005 and 2007 ending a 14 year decline, but a 2.5 percent decrease again in 2008
• The United States has the highest Teen Birth Rate of any industrialized nation and almost triple the rate of Canada
• Teen Births play a significant role in the cycle of poverty:

Poverty
Disadvantage
Early School Failure and Behavior Problems
Risky Sex
Early Pregnancy
Early Childbearing

Note: Related research shows that teen mothers are at a heightened risk to drop out of school and have experienced problems in school before their pregnancy. Research has also shown that only 66% of teen mothers will attain their High School diploma or GED by age 22 as compared to 94% of girls with no teen birth.

Dr. Moore suggests that if we took the research seriously, we would support programs that have been shown to be effective in:

• Delaying repeat births
• Helping youth to develop basic self-sufficiency skills
• Helping youth to work toward financial stability
• Facilitating successful and engaged parenting skills
• Facilitating attainment of affordable housing in a safe neighborhood
• Cultivating a sense of self-worth and the right to healthy relationships with partners, peers, family, and the community, and the skills to achieve them

Effective Prevention Approaches were identified that included:

• Comprehensive sex education
• Early child interventions
• Community service and youth development programs