A matched case-control study: investigating the relationship between youth assets and sexual intercourse among 13- to 14-year-olds

The influence of assets and environmental factors on gender differences in adolescent drug use

For adolescents, illicit drug use remains a significant public health problem. This study explored prospectively the differential effects of 17 youth assets and 5 environmental factors on drug use in adolescent males and females (Youth Asset Study - a 5-wave longitudinal study of 1117 youth/parent pairs). Baseline analyses included 1093 youth (53% female). Mean age was 14.3 years (SD = 1.6) and the youth were 40% Non-Hispanic White, 28% Hispanic, 24% Non-Hispanic Black, and 9% Non-Hispanic other. Analyses revealed that 16 assets for males and 15 for females as well as the total asset score were prospectively associated with no drug use. No environmental factors were prospectively associated with any drug use for males, and for a subset of females, only Neighborhood Support was significant. This study confirms and extends previous work regarding youth drug use by recognizing the importance of the protective effect of assets for both males and females.

Community Involvement and Reduced Risk Behavior Engagement Among African American Adolescents

Studies have indicated disproportionate health risks among African American adolescents. Given these estimates, research has focused on the prevention of health risk behaviors among this population. Using a strengths-based approach, the current study explored associations between community involvement and African American youths’ health risk behaviors. Additionally, this investigation examined youths’ empowerment beliefs as a mediator of this association. Participants in this study were 1,452 African American youth ( M = 14.41; SD = 1.14; 59% female) residing in a large Midwestern city. Results indicated that community involvement was not directly associated with adolescent health risk behaviors. However, empowerment beliefs mediated the association between community youth involvement and adolescent sexual risk behaviors. Findings suggest the importance of identifying mechanisms that better illuminate the link between community involvement and African American adolescents’ health risk behaviors.

Understanding motivations for abstinence among adolescent young women: insights into effective sexual risk reduction strategies

INTRODUCTION

Pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections pose a significant threat to the health and well-being of adolescent women. Abstinence, when practiced, provides the most effective means of preventing these problems, yet the perspective of abstinent young women is not well understood. The purpose of this investigation was to characterize female adolescents' motivations for abstinence.

METHOD

As part of a larger, cross-sectional quantitative study investigating predictors of HIV risk reduction behaviors, qualitative responses from study participants who never had intercourse were analyzed in a consensus-based process using content analysis and frequency counts. An urban primary care site in a tertiary care center served as the setting, with adolescent young women ages 15-19 years included in the sample.

RESULTS

Five broad topic categories emerged from the data that characterized motivations for abstinence in this sample: personal readiness, fear, beliefs and values, partner worthiness, and lack of opportunity.

DISCUSSION

A better understanding of the motivations for abstinence may serve to guide the development of interventions to delay intercourse.

Determinants of unwanted pregnancies in India using matched case-control designs

BACKGROUND

In India, while the total fertility rate has been declined from 3.39 in 1992-93 to 2.68 in 2005-06, the prevalence of unintended pregnancy is still stagnant over the same period. A review of existing literature shows that within the country, there are variations in fertility preferences between different regions. Also there is a strong argument that the availability of a health facility at the village level plays an important role in reshaping the fertility behavior of women. Keeping in mind the fact that there is no information at the village level (which is the lowest geographical boundary) in the recent round of National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3), the specific objective of this study is to examine the impact of individual and household level variables on unwanted pregnancies without controlling the village level variation. Further, once the village level variation (i.e. unobserved variation) has been controlled, it is necessary to study whether there has been any alteration in the contribution of factors from earlier results of without adjusting the village level variation.

METHODS

This paper attempts to examine the associated factors of unwanted pregnancies, without matching the village and after matching the village, by using the matched case-control design. Nationwide data from India's latest NFHS-3 conducted during 2005-06 was used for the present study. Frequency and pair wise matching has been applied in the present paper and conditional logistic regression analysis was used to work out the models and to find out the factors associated with unwanted pregnancies.

RESULTS

A major finding of this study was that 1:3 case-control study (without matching the village) shows that women belonging to non Hindu/Muslim religion, Scheduled Tribe, women who have experienced child loss and if the previous birth interval is 24 through 36 months were significant predictors of unwanted pregnancy. However, this relationship did not hold significant after village wise matching. Other factors such as Muslim religion, women and their partners with high school education and above, women belonging to the richest wealth index and if the sex of the last child was female, emerge as significant predictors of unwanted pregnancies.

CONCLUSIONS

This study clearly underscores the importance of adjusting the village (PSU) level variation in explaining unwanted pregnancies.

Character as a predictor of reproductive health outcomes for youth: a systematic review

To review research examining the influence of character on adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH). We defined character as comprising two positive youth development constructs: prosocial norms and spirituality. We conducted a systematic review of behavioral research published from 1985 through 2007 that examined the association between two character constructs (prosocial norms and spirituality) and ASRH outcomes. We coded results as showing a protective association, risk association, or no association, and as longitudinal, or cross-sectional. We considered consistent associations from at least two longitudinal studies for a given outcome to be sufficient evidence for a protective or risk association. There is sufficient evidence to indicate that prosocial norms and spirituality can be protective factors for some ASRH outcomes including intention to have sex, early sex or ever having sex, contraceptive and condom use, frequency of sex, and pregnancy. The generalizability of findings by age, race/ethnicity, and gender was unclear. Findings suggest that some character sub-constructs are associated with a reduced likelihood of several adverse ASRH outcomes and with an increased likelihood of using contraceptives and intending to use condoms. Further research is needed to better understand mixed results and results showing some character sub-constructs, such as religious affiliation, to be associated with adverse ASRH outcomes.