On Friday the Office on Adolescent Health (OAH) released the results of 41 rigorous evaluations on the effectiveness of teen pregnancy prevention programs. The studies, 90 percent of which were randomized controlled trials between 2010 through 2015, is expected to offer a significant contribution to the field’s knowledge of where, when, and with whom programs are effective. The findings provide communities with more information to select prevention programs best suited to their teens.
Initially funded in 2010 as one of six federal initiatives which use the best evidence available to address major social issues, the Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) Program grants reached nearly half a million youth, trained more than 6,100 program facilitators, and established more than 3,800 community partnerships in its first five years.
The OAH Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) Program includes eight new and innovative approaches that were effective at changing behavior:
- AIM 4 Teen Moms (Project AIM Adaptation)
- Crossroads (Be Proud! Be Responsible! Adaptation)
- Healthy Futures
- Love Notes
- Positive Potential Be The Exception (Sixth Grade)
- Positive Prevention PLUS
- Reducing the Risk Adaptation
- Teen Options to Prevent Pregnancy (T.O.P.P.)
In addition to the success of these models OAH also found four evidence-based programs were also effective at changing behavior when tested in new settings and/or with new populations:
- Children’s Aid Society-Carrera Program
- Reducing the Risk (RtR)
- Safer Sex
- Teen Outreach Program (TOP®)
To read more detail on the evaluations and descriptions of the various model a summary is available here at the OAH website.
