Adolescent male involvement in pregnancy prevention: Direction for policy

This presentation describes research study findings that focus on teen pregnancy prevention from the adolescent male perspective. The findings from this study depict the social processes of adolescent sexual relationships from the perspective of 18 year old males who are in their 12th grade of high school. Eighteen males were interviewed in this study and data were analyzed using constant comparison and grounded theory method. In recent years, there has been a greater emphasis on the role of adolescent males in pregnancy prevention; however, much of this attention has focused on the issues of fatherhood such as parental involvement and child support. There has been less focus on the aspect of teen male involvement in pregnancy prevention. In some circles “male involvement in teen pregnancy prevention” is considered an oxymoron and the notion that teen males will go as far as the girl will allow without regard to pregnancy or sexually transmitted infection prevention persists. These attitudes influence resource allocation toward pregnancy prevention programs and services focused primarily on females. Adolescent male centered sexual health services and prevention education programs are less available. The data which emerged from this study represents many aspects of male responsibility for prevention and includes the processes of pregnancy prevention, lines of communication, influencing factors, dating expectations and the origin of sexual knowledge. The presentation will conclude with a discussion of how this and other research related to male involvement in teen pregnancy prevention could influence policy development considerations for future prevention programs.