Grade: C

Issue Statement:

The rate of births to adolescent females aged 15Ð19 is increasing in Boone County, even while the state and national rates are declining.

Indicator:

The national and state teen pregnancy (or births to teens) rates have declined in the past several years. Reasons that are often suggested for this decline include a) teens are not engaging in as much sexual activity, and b) those that are sexually active are using birth control. According to the Missouri Department of Health, however, in Boone County the 1998 resident births to adolescents aged 15 to 19 have increased slightly. In fact, the rate per thousand births to adolescents aged 15 to 19 in Boone County has not improved from the 1980 rate.

Baseline Analysis:

Research shows that adolescents who become pregnant are also engaging in other high-risk behaviors, including alcohol and drug use. According to the American Medical Association, 4 of every 10 adolescent females under the age of 20 will become pregnant. Pregnant and/or parenting adolescents are also more likely to drop out of school.

The behaviors that lead to teen pregnancy cannot be addressed separately from the incidence of other high-risk behaviors. Recent research has linked adolescent pregnancy with alcohol consumption. A common statement from pregnant adolescents about the situation under which they became pregnant is that they and/or their partner were drinking. Prevention is a multi-faceted problem and efforts must address the complex interrelationship among multiple high-risk behaviors.

Analysis of Plausible Interventions:

One way to decrease the rate of teen pregnancy is to give teens a consistent, coordinated, community-wide message that becoming pregnant as an adolescent is not a good thing. The same message must come from parents, schools, churches, youth organizations, businesses, and government officials. The community message must be that the effects of teen pregnancy are harmful to adolescents and their children. In addition, prevention efforts aimed at decreasing high-risk behavior in general are more effective than those that address only one of the behaviors in isolation from others.

Progress Statement:

From 1980 to the present, there has been no progress in impacting the adolescent pregnancy rate in Boone County.

Goal:

To reduce the adolescent pregnancy rate to fewer than 18 per 1,000 by the year 2005.

• Collaborate with other Health Report Card Sub-committees, particularly the Substance Use and Drop-out teams, to design prevention efforts to address high-risk behaviors among adolescents.

Births to Females Aged 15-19

Lynn Pike, Director, Center on Adolescent Sexuality, Pregnancy & Parenting, 882-3243.

Guriana Wittstruck, Associate Director, Center on Adolescent Sexuality, Pregnancy & Parenting, 882-6687.

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Last Revised:  07 April 2000