Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #101638

Anu Rangarajan, PhD¹, Kristin A. Adams, PhD, CHES², Heather Johnston Nicholson, PhD², Sheila Heaviside¹, Melissa Thomas¹, and Ankur Sarin, PhD¹. (1) Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., 600 Alexander Park, Princeton, NJ 08540, 609.799.3535, arangarajan@mathematica-mpr.com, (2) Research, Girls Inc., 441 W. Michigan St., Indianapolis, IN 46202

The purpose of this oral session will be to present on the rigorous evaluation design of the Girls Shape the Future study, the process of conducting a random assignment study in schools and after school centers, and the baseline results of girls' who participated in the study. This study is a nine-year longitudinal, random assignment project that will evaluate the effectiveness of the Girls Inc. Preventing Adolescent Pregnancy® Program, an abstinence-plus program that helps girls and young women delay sexual intercourse, postpone pregnancy and childbearing, and avoid STIs. Conducted with Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. as the subcontractor, this study entails a sample size of 835 girls, a baseline survey, a first-year follow-up survey, a 9th grade survey, and an 11th grade survey. The baseline survey was designed to measure middle school girls' experiences, attitudes and opinions before the program intervention begins in five locations. The survey includes many questions that are being used in studies of abstinence-only programming and other surveys of risk behaviors. The survey also elicits the participants' family contexts, relationships with parents/caregivers, parents' values about sexual relationships and behaviors, peer relationships and values, and engagement in risk behaviors such as using drugs and alcohol and having sexual intercourse prior to the program intervention. This study will describe the findings from these surveys. Because serious evaluations of other approaches to adolescent pregnancy prevention are underway, young people, parents, health educators, and policy makers will benefit from the overall findings on important issues of sexual behavior and youth development.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify key components in the Girls Shape the Future Study and describe the study to colleagues.
• Discuss the advantages and challenges of conducting a random assignment study in schools and after school programs
• Learn about middle school girls’ attitudes and opinions about parental involvement, sexual activity, and engagement in risk behaviors

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation