Despite the important role that adolescent and young adult men
can play in preventing teenage pregnancy, few evidence-based interventions in the United States are developed specifically for this population. But this is about to change.
Promundo has received funding for research in this field from the new Office of Adolescent Health (OAH) of the United States Department of Health and Human Services; and by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This collaborative initiative between OAH and CDC aims to support rigorous evaluation of innovative interventions designed to reduce the risk of young men having a teenage pregnancy. Our proposal is one of three five-year research projects that were selected, along with projects from Columbia University and New York University.
Promundo will adapt and rigorously evaluate an innovative teenage pregnancy prevention curriculum, based on the Program H methodology, targeting young men aged between 15 and 17 who attend juvenile justice centers in Texas, United States. The program consists of a gender transformative curriculum with a course load of 18 hours, spread over nine two-hour sessions.
The program uses a holistic approach to gender transformation, including promoting reproductive health, healthy relationships, healthy masculinity, and explicit and proactive support for female partners' use of contraceptives. Activities are designed to engage young people in critical reflection and dialogue about gender norms and then apply these discussions to a range of key issues including intimate relationships, gender-based violence, substance abuse, sexually transmitted infections transmissible diseases and teenage pregnancy.
A randomized controlled trial will be conducted at one or two county juvenile justice centers in Texas, with approximately 900 youth, to evaluate the impact of the intervention after three months and after one year. If the methodology is assessed as effective in this context, Program H will help fill a gap in evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention interventions developed specifically for youth in juvenile justice centers.
Learn more about the “Effectiveness of Teen Pregnancy Prevention Programs Developed Specifically for Young Men” project on the CDC website .
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