Birth: Special Program Helps Increase Birth Control Use in At-risk Teens

Teen pregnancy in the United States is the highest in the developed world, according to researchers. However, studies show that after completing an 18-month program designed to teach about contraception and healthy relationships, U.S. teens at high risk for pregnancy were found to be more likely to use contraceptives.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2011, 31 out of every 1,000 U.S. teenage girls between the ages of 15 and 19 gave birth to a baby.

However, researchers in Minnesota developed and tested an approach to teen pregnancies based on providing access to birth control methods and information as well as building a sense of connectedness for the young women to their family and society.

"Our study shows that when we invest in young people through ongoing one-on-one relationships, through opportunities to lead and access to sex and health services, we really support the next generation of citizens," said Renee Sieving, the study's lead author from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.

For the study, Sieving's team recruited 253 sexually active girls between 13 and 17 years old from clinics in St. Paul and Minneapolis, to be randomly placed in one of two groups.

All would get standard care at the clinic, but half would also be enrolled in the researchers' youth development program. At the beginning of the study, 56 percent of the girls were using condoms during sex and 40 percent said they were using condoms less than half of the time during intercourse.

Just 2 percent of girls in each group were also on some other type of birth control, such as the Pill.

One group of 127 girls did not receive any special attention, other than the clinic's standard care and guidance. The other 126 girls were assigned to the new program.

Each girl in the program got a case manager who taught about healthy relationships, contraceptive use and how to become more involved with school and family. Those teens also went through training to educate others about what they were learning.

Six months after the 18-month program ended, the teens were asked about their sexual behavior. Those who went through the program were 50 percent more likely to use protection when having intercourse.

"The kids we're working with are oftentimes struggling in school - the kid in the back of the room you don't often hear from, and we give them tools," Sieving said.