Ecological Approaches to Teen Pregnancy Prevention: An Examination of Evidence-Based Interventions

Abstract

Over the past 20 years, teenage birth rates in the United States have declined substantially but continue to persist among certain populations. During this time period, a series of rigorously tested teen pregnancy prevention (TPP) programs were developed, and a number of evidence-based interventions (EBIs) emerged. In April 2017, researchers reviewed EBIs in TPP and examined each program’s socioecological levels of intervention, measurements approaches, and other ecological aspects. Findings indicate that the majority of TPP EBIs are aimed at the individual and/or interpersonal level of intervention. Furthermore, the programs were evaluated using the individual as the unit of analysis, regardless of what level the EBI targets. These findings represent serious gaps, specifically a lack of system-, environmental-, and policy-level EBIs. Future TP approaches should target multiple levels of social ecology, ensure measurements appropriately capture changes within these levels, and shift to a focus on a longer term population health improvement.