Reducing pregnancy and health risk behaviours in teenagers

doi:10.1136/bmj.b2054

Published 9 July 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b2054
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b2054

Editorials

Reducing pregnancy and health risk behaviours in teenagers

Intensive, multicomponent programmes are not always effective

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Youth development programmes aimed at reducing pregnancy ratesand health risk behaviour in teenagers have received strongsupport in many countries. Proponents of such programmes claimthat they are holistic and can focus on the supports, opportunities,and services needed for success; they can tackle multiple riskbehaviours, which are thought to be inter-related; and theycan help build protective factors as well as reduce risk factors.

One of the most effective youth development programmes, theChildren’s Aid Society (CAS) Carrera programme, reducedpregnancy by about a half over three years. Its results havebeen widely reported,¹ and this has led to the implementationof formally sanctioned CAS Carrera programmes, unsanctionedCAS Carrera-type programmes, and other types of youth developmentprogrammes.

In the linked matched comparison study (doi:10.1136/bmj.b2534),Wiggins and colleagues evaluated a programme based on the CASCarrera programme and other youth development programmes.² Thisprogramme did . . . [Full text of this article]

Douglas Kirby, senior research scientist

¹ ETR Associates, Scotts Valley, CA 95066, USA

dougk@etr.org

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Health outcomes of youth development programme in England: prospective matched comparison study: Meg Wiggins, Chris Bonell, Mary Sawtell, Helen Austerberry, Helen Burchett, Elizabeth Allen, and Vicki Strange
BMJ 2009 339: b2534. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]