%0 Journal Article
%T Ecological Approaches to Teen Pregnancy Prevention: An Examination of Evidence
%A Daenuka Muraleetharan
%A Dawn-Marie Baletka
%A Jordan Nelon
%A Kelly Wilson
%A Kenneth McLeroy
%A Whitney Garney
%J Health Promotion Practice
%@ 1552-6372
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/1524839918815463
%X Over the past 20 years, teenage birth rates in the United States have declined substantially but continue to persist among certain populations. During this time period, a series of rigorously tested teen pregnancy prevention (TPP) programs were developed, and a number of evidence-based interventions (EBIs) emerged. In April 2017, researchers reviewed EBIs in TPP and examined each program¡¯s socioecological levels of intervention, measurements approaches, and other ecological aspects. Findings indicate that the majority of TPP EBIs are aimed at the individual and/or interpersonal level of intervention. Furthermore, the programs were evaluated using the individual as the unit of analysis, regardless of what level the EBI targets. These findings represent serious gaps, specifically a lack of system-, environmental-, and policy-level EBIs. Future TP approaches should target multiple levels of social ecology, ensure measurements appropriately capture changes within these levels, and shift to a focus on a longer term population health improvement
%K child/adolescent health
%K environmental and systems change
%K evaluation design
%K program planning and evaluation
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1524839918815463