Opportunity, Community, and Teen Pregnancy in an Appalachian State

Socioeconomic Disadvantage as a Social Determinant of Teen Childbearing in the U.S.

“…Five studies looked at birth rates among teens. 22,24,27,29,30 Two studies examined timing of teen birth, measured at the individual level. 12,14 Six studies had occurrence of teen birth as their outcome.…”

“…12,13 A third study was conducted in Appalachia in counties with predominantly non-Hispanic white (NHW) populations. 22 Two studies included multiple racial/ ethnic groups with the stated purpose of making comparisons; they compared Latina respondents with non-Latina white respondents 23 and black teens with white teens.…”

“…Of the eight studies that focused on community-level influences, five included only community-level measures of socioeconomic influences on teen pregnancy; 22,24,27,29,30 the remaining three included both community-and family-level measures. [12][13][14] In a cross-sectional analysis of Census data and National Center for Health Statistics birth data from 414 populous U.S. counties, Gold and colleagues sought to determine whether county-level per capita income (PCI) and income inequality were associated with teen birth rates, independently of counties' racial/ ethnic composition.…”

“…Modern communities had higher teen birth rates. 22 Kirby and colleagues conducted a cross-sectional analysis of birth certificate and Census data for 1,192 California ZIP Codes, using a variety of ZIP Code-level measures to examine the effects of socioeconomic and other factors on birth rates among teens aged 15-17 years. They found that higher percentages of the population living below the federal poverty level, lower percentages of adults with a college degree, and higher percentages of employed males were positively associated with higher teen birth rates at the ZIP Code level.…”

Barack Obama vs Bristol Palin: why the President’s sex education policy wins

“…Instead of merely focusing on sex education, educators and policy-makers should also develop career counseling programs and tutoring programs, and offer an array of extracurricular activities (Kirby, 2007). Individuals' perceptions of opportunities are significantly related to teen pregnancy (Bickel, Weaver, Williams, & Lange, 1997). The federal government should therefore focus funds on programs that create academic and economic opportunities for young people.…”