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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Phillip J. Waite, PhD, CHES¹, Thomas Tatchell, PhD², and Angela Gandaio, MPH². (1) Health, Physical Education and Recreation, Utah State University, 7000 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT 84322, (435) 797-7217, phillip.waite@usu.edu, (2) Department of Public Health and Rehabilitative Services, University of Toledo, Mail Stop # 119, 2801 West Bancroft St., Toledo, OH 43606-3390

One in five high school girls have experienced sexual or physical violence from a boyfriend. The Teen PEP (Peers Educating Peers) program is a school-based educational intervention, based in part on the Expect Respect curriculum (National Resource Center on Domestic Violence), that was developed for and has been implemented with high school students with the goal of reducing teen violence and other related problems. The emphasis of the Teen PEP program is focused on making changes in adolescents' violence-related knowledge, beliefs, attitudes and behavior through peer leadership, educational, role-playing, and adult mentoring experiences. Trained school staff guide teen ‘peer-leaders' through a formal training in two half-day sessions at the beginning of the semester and through an informal training in one-on-one or in small groups before the program begins. One-hour classroom sessions of the Teen PEP program are then implemented every other week over a 9 week period. A pretest/posttest control group design is currently being employed in a study to assess the effectiveness of the Teen PEP program being implemented at the Polly Fox Academy Charter School, a school for pregnant or parenting teens, in Lucas County, Ohio. A 41-item questionnaire along with qualitative observations of the experience is being used to assess program quality and outcomes. Paired t-tests and ANOVA will be used to assess pre-to-post intervention change and examine demographic differences in quantitative questionnaire outcomes. A phenomenological approach will be taken in identifying important themes from the qualitative data.

Learning Objectives:

• 1. After attending the program, the participants will be able to articulate briefly the components of PEP program.
• 2. After attending the program, the participants will be able to describe the measures used in the study.
• 3. After attending the program, the participants will be able to evaluate and discuss the weaknesses and strengths of the PEP program

Keywords: Youth Violence, Teen Pregnancy

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered