TEEN TALK
OVERVIEW
Teen Talk is a teen pregnancy prevention program based on the health belief model and on social learning theory. A large-scale evaluation compared Teen Talk with similar programs that lacked Teen Talk's theoretical foundation. This evaluation found that Teen Talk is somewhat more effective than similar programs for males, but not for females. Among teenagers who had never had intercourse prior to participation in the study, males assigned to the Teen Talk program were significantly more likely to maintain abstinence over the next year than were males assigned to existing programs. And among teenagers who became sexually active before entering the study, males assigned to the Teen Talk program became significantly more consistent users of effective contraception over time than did males assigned to existing programs.
DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM
Target population: Teenagers
Teen Talk is a six-session, 12 to 15-hour intervention. It is intended to familiarize teenagers with their personal susceptibility to becoming pregnant or causing a pregnancy and to increase their awareness of the serious negative consequences associated with teenage maternity and paternity. The Teen Talk curriculum highlights the benefits of delayed sexual activity and consistent, effective contraceptive use and aims to decrease the psychological, interpersonal, and logistical barriers associated with abstinence and contraceptive use.
Teen Talk has four broad content areas: factual information, group discussion of factual information, group discussion of values, feelings, and emotions, and discussion of decision-making and personal responsibility. Program activities include lectures, simulations, leader-guided discussions, role-playing, games, and films.
The Teen Talk curriculum is based on the health belief model and on social learning theory. The health belief model suggests that an individual's willingness to undertake preventative actions (such as contraceptive use) is related to that individual's perceptions of personal susceptibility to the problem, the seriousness of the problem, and the costs and benefits associated with undertaking preventative action. Social learning theory predicts that teenagers will be better able to avoid pregnancy if provided with opportunities to observe both appropriate and inappropriate behavior and chances to participate in role plays that help them learn to act out appropriate behavior.
EVALUATION(S) OF PROGRAM
Note: The following study evaluated the initial version of the Teen Talk program. When the study was conducted, the curriculum was still in development and was not referred to by its current name. This summary employs the current program name for purposes of clarity.
Eisen, M., Zellman, G.L., & McAlister, A.L. (1990). Evaluating the Impact of a Theory-Based Sexuality and Contraceptive Education Program. Family Planning Perspectives, 22(6), 261-271.
Evaluated population: In the mid-1980s, six family
planning service agencies and one independent school district were selected to
participate in this study. Selected agencies were from
Approach: Each agency randomly assigned recruits to a control group or to a group that would receive the Teen Talk intervention. Assignment was by individual or by classroom unit, depending on agency requirements.
The purpose of this study was not to evaluate whether the Teen Talk program was more effective than no intervention at all, but rather to see whether Teen Talk's basis in the health belief model and social learning theory rendered it more effective than existing programs. For this reason, students assigned to control groups did receive a sex education intervention - specifically, whatever program was currently in effect at their agency.
Existing programs varied from agency to agency, but typically covered reproductive biology, contraceptives, STDs, dating, sexual values, and decision-making. Unlike Teen Talk, these programs did not focus on teenagers' perceptions of their own susceptibility to pregnancy, nor on the seriousness of pregnancy. Further, these programs did not weigh the benefits of using birth control against the barriers to attaining it. In general, these programs involved less active student involvement than did the Teen Talk program and none used role-playing or role-reversal more than occasionally.
The Teen Talk Program was led by educators who had attended a two-day training seminar on the curriculum. These educators led Teen Talk's six sessions over the course of two to three weeks. In many cases, agencies whose existing program was shorter than the Teen Talk program adjusted their program to better match the Teen Talk program on number and length of sessions.
All study participants were interviewed before taking part in a program, immediately after completing a program, and again 12 months later. Of the original 1444 recruits, 1328 (92%) completed the immediate follow-up interview and 888 (62%) completed the one-year follow-up. Interviews assessed sexuality-related knowledge, beliefs, and behavior.
Results: Immediately following the intervention, study participants assigned to the Teen Talk program had significantly higher scores on a test of sexual knowledge than did teenagers assigned to existing programs.
In spite of the Teen Talk program's explicit focus on perceptions of susceptibility to pregnancy, seriousness of pregnancy, benefits of birth control, andbarriers to attaining birth control, teenagers assigned to the Teen Talk intervention were no more likely to have changed their perceptions about any of these matters than were teenagers assigned to existing programs.
Among teenagers who had never had intercourse prior to participation in the study, males assigned to the Teen Talk program were significantly more likely to maintain abstinence over the next year than were males assigned to existing programs. This difference was not observed among females.
Among teenagers who became sexually active during the study, females assigned to the Teen Talk program were actually significantly less likely to be consistent users of effective contraception and to have used contraception the last time they had sex than were females assigned to existing programs. This difference was not observed among males
Among teenagers who became sexually active before entering the study, males assigned to the Teen Talk program became significantly more consistent users of effective contraception over time than did males assigned to existing programs. This difference was not observed among females.
Further analyses revealed that the Teen Talk program was more effective for males than females, particularly non-Hispanic males.
SOURCES FOR MORE INFORMATION
Program materials available for purchase at
http://www.socio.com/srch/summary/pasha/paspp02.htm
References:
Eisen, M., Zellman, G.L., & McAlister, A.L. (1990). Evaluating the Impact of a Theory-Based Sexuality and Contraceptive Education Program. Family Planning Perspectives, 22(6), 261-271.
Program categorized in this guide according to the following:
Evaluated participant ages: 13-19
Program age ranges in the guide: Adolescence, Youth
Program components: Clinic-Based, Provider-Based, or Miscellaneous, School-Based
Measured outcomes: Reproductive Health
KEYWORDS: Adolescence (12-17), Youth (16+), Young Adults (18-24), Clinic-based, School-based, High School, Black or African American, Caucasian or White, Hispanic or Latino, Asian, Urban, Rural, Life Skills Training, Peer Pressure, Reproductive Health, Teen Pregnancy, Risky Sex, Sexual Initiation, STD/HIV/AIDS, Abstinence, Contraception, Condom Use
Program information last updated on 5/1/07.
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© Child Trends 2004 |
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