Patterns and Predictors of Changes in Knowledge, Attitudes, Beliefs, Behaviors, and Intentions of Underserved Youth Who Completed Pregnancy Prevention Programs

Abstract

This study characterized the patterns and predictors of pre-post changes in knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, and intentions (KABBIs) among 641 youth who completed evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention programs. At follow-up, 64.0% of youth showed changes knowledge, communication, and attitudes; 22.5% showed changes in knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, communication, and increased sexual intentions; and 13.6% showed changes in attitudes and decreased sexual intentions. The strongest predictors of changes were youth baseline KABBI scores, mode of delivery, and number and type of adaptations made to the curricula. Results underscore the importance of examining the role of youth and program characteristics in predicting KABBI change patterns.

Keywords:

• Automated model selection
• evidence-based
• teen pregnancy prevention

Acknowledgments

The authors sincerely thank all the youth and parents/legal guardians who participated in the study, partner organizations for their collaboration and diligent work, and Dana Kampschror and Kristen Klein for their feedback in earlier versions of this paper. The authors would also like to acknowledge the contributions of the larger research team, including Whitney Ball, Parker Foe, Shayri Kansagra, Vanessa Li, Ashley Morsell, Tondi Mondoloka, Gordon Olsen, Denali Rao, Anna Schatz, and Zach Terner, for their contribution to data collection, cleaning, and coding.

Ethical approval

The research protocol used in this research was reviewed and approved by the MITRE Institutional Review Board, approval number 2020003.

Disclosure statement

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

Additional information

Funding

This work was accomplished in support of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health. This paper was first produced for the U.S. Government under contract [number HHSM-500-2012-00008I]. The views and conclusions contained herein are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Office of Population Affairs, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or any of the authors’ host affiliations.