The Philadelphia Coalitions for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention (PCAPP) is a 5-year project funded by the CDC to reduce unintended pregnancies among adolescents. The impact of the community coalitions can be evaluated by examining the timing and frequency with which teens participate in community activities and measuring correlating changes in sexual behavior. The methodology used to encourage teens to report their activities and the findings of this unique study will be presented. Repeated assessment models have been found to provide a more valid description of on-going activities than summary retrospective models when used to collect the same behavior. Leading communication tools were used in this study to ensure reporting was convenient for teens. Seventy-six teens accessed a touch tone-assisted telephone interview (TATI) program every other week for 6 months by calling a toll-free telephone number. A pager was used to cue the participants when the survey should be accessed. Teens were asked about their participation in community activities, sexual activity and contraceptive use. Responses were recorded by pressing numbers on the keypad. Preliminary results show that 33% of teens reported TATI was easier to answer than in-person interviewing, phone interviewing, or pen and paper reporting. Fifty percent of teens reported that teens would give more honest answers using TATI then any of the other approaches. On average, teens completed 67% of the repeated surveys. Findings of the relationship between community organized teenage pregnancy prevention activities and safer sex practices will also be presented.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, participants in will be able to: 1) Identify the strengths and weaknesses of using pagers and touch-tone assisted telephone interviewing (TATI) to collect sexual behavior data from adolescents. 2) Assess the ability of TATI to measure changes in teen sexual behavior. 3) Develop awareness of a community-organized teen pregnancy prevention program and its intervention efforts
Keywords: Teen Pregnancy Prevention, Methodology
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.