The reproductive health of American adolescents has been, and continues to be, a matter of serious concern. America's teen birth rate--already one of the highest among developed nations--is again on the rise. Also, rates of sexually-transmitted infection (STI) among teens remain disconcertingly high, with one-quarter of the 19 million new cases of…

Education and fertility (including childrearing) are foundational processes in societal metabolism, and the relationship between them can have profound, long-term effects on a variety of institutions, including the labor market, the family (especially care for the elderly), and educational institutions themselves. In postindustrial countries,…

Parental questionnaires are inexpensive alternatives to standardized testing for outcome measurement. The Parent Report of Children's Abilities has previously been revised (PARCA-R) and validated for use with very-preterm infants at 2 years of age. This study revalidated the PARCA-R for assessing cognition in a larger and more inclusive sample of…

This article focuses on some of the challenges of teaching science in a culture where science and religion sometimes appear to be or are set at odds with each other. Apparent conflicts between scholarly claims and religious claims are not limited to science, however--they occur in almost every subject. Many topics included in science education are…

According to the medical profession the direction and scope of reproductive services such as IVF and pre-natal screening are based on solid evidence; the evidence indicates these are effective and safe services. Moreover, women want them. As a consequence these services are usually presented to the wider community in a positive light with images…

This paper describes the conception, planning, implementation and evaluation of an access programme arising out of an innovative collaboration between two charities, Straight Talking and the National Childbirth Trust. The access programme was designed at the request of a group of young mothers who had finished compulsory education and subsequently…

Previous empirical studies of pregnancy loss have predominantly focused on complex grief response and emergent problems associated with future parenting in self-selected samples of bereaved women. This article presents findings from a retrospective secondary data analysis conducted with a racially and ethnically diverse sample of currently…

This study uses pooled cross-section time-series data, over the years 1982, 1992 and 2000, to estimate the impact of various restrictive abortion laws on the demand for abortion. This study complements and extends prior research by explicitly including the price of obtaining an abortion in the estimation. The empirical results show that the real…

Adolescence is a time of growth, change, and confusion for young women. During this transition from childhood to adulthood, sex and gender roles become more important. Meanwhile, depictions of females--from the hyper-sexualized girls of music videos to the chaste repression of Purity Balls--send mixed messages to young women about their bodies…

I use a randomized experiment to test whether information can change sexual behavior among teenagers in Kenya. Providing information on the relative risk of HIV infection by partner's age led to a 28% decrease in teen pregnancy, an objective proxy for the incidence of unprotected sex. Self-reported sexual behavior data suggests substitution away…

Fifty-three adolescent girls residing in community-based group-living child welfare programs were administered a standardized measure (SASS-2) in order to assess probability of a substance use/dependency disorder in this highly vulnerable population. Findings revealed that one third of the sample, and one half of the nonpregnant/parenting girls,…

Teenage pregnancy prevention programmes targeted at young women have received considerable attention from researchers and programme developers. However, to date, relatively limited information is available on preventing teenage fatherhood or improving outcomes for young fathers. A notable gap is concerned with understanding the forms of sexual…

In the United States, Latino youth experience disproportionately higher rates of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) than non-Latino Whites. As a result, organizations serving Latino youth seek culturally appropriate evidence-based prevention programs that promote sexual abstinence and condom use. "Cuidate" is an…

Latino pregnant and parenting adolescents living in inner cities are one of the populations at risk for acquiring HIV. Although teen parenthood has been predominantly looked at with a focus on potential adverse physical, emotional, and socioeconomic outcomes for the mother and child; a growing body of literature has documented the strengths and…

It is well-known that there is a large gap between evidence-based best-practice guidelines and outcomes researchers use to define "optimal care" and the medical care patients actually receive. The gap between actual and desired birth outcomes is a particular concern that may be remediable. The purpose of this study is to implement a computerized…