Reducing the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases and unintended pregnancies is one objective of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). HHS provides funding to states and organizations that provide abstinence-until-marriage education as one approach to address this objective. GAO was asked to describe the oversight of federally…

This volume of six lessons provides expert information on a variety of issues in substance abuse counseling. The lessons, which may be applied toward continuing education credits, are: (1) "Ethics in Substance Abuse Rehabilitation" (Robert L. Hewes); (2) "Addressing the Needs of Clients with Traumatic Injury and Alcoholism"…

This book addresses issues related to teen mothers and schooling, examining how teen mothers have become scapegoats for social anxieties, how schools respond to these stigmatized students, and what helps/hinders the success of schools attempting to form more inclusive settings for teen mothers. The book links an ethnographic study of two schools…

Homelessness influences every facet of children's lives, inhibiting their physical, emotional, cognitive, social, and behavioral development. Homeless women face such obstacles to healthy pregnancies as chemical abuse, chronic health problems, and lack of prenatal care. Homeless infants are more likely to have low birth weights and are at greater…

The California Women's Law Center (CWLC) works to ensure, through systemic change, that the life opportunities for women and girls are free from unjust social, economic, and political constraints. As part of this mission, the CWLC collaborated with California's Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) to develop comprehensive written policies…

The California Women's Law Center (CWLC) works to ensure, through systemic change, that the life opportunities for women and girls are free from unjust social, economic, and political constraints. As part of this mission, the CWLC collaborated with California's Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) to develop comprehensive written policies…

Study examined perceptions of pregnancy, including life-expectations, desire for pregnancy, and knowledge of menstrual cycle in a sample of pregnant urban adolescents. Results indicate that, although teens were aware of birth control methods, they had little understanding of menstrual cycle and its relationship to intercourse. And while few…

This article provides a literature review on the consequences of adolescent childbearing on postnatal infant development. (DB)

At Toledo Hospital, family practice residents have assumed responsibility for the normal obstetrics clinic. Specialty consultations are provided by the hospital's obstetrics residency program. A medical audit of the clinic indicates that the family practice residents obtained consultations and made referrals at the appropriate times. (JMD)

An 18-year longitudinal study of 520 New Zealand women found that those reporting childhood sexual abuse, particularly severe abuse involving intercourse, had significantly higher rates of early onset consensual sexual activity, teenage pregnancy, multiple sexual partners, unprotected intercourse, sexually transmitted disease, and sexual assault…

Presents a broadly based theory of adolescent decision making including all the necessary components of the subject: cognitive development, social and psychological factors, and cultural and societal influences. This theory is then applied to the problem of preventing early pregnancy at an inner-city high school. Asserts that similar programs…

Surveyed university faculty regarding the preparation of general educators, special educators, and speech language pathologists to work with students prenatally exposed to drugs and alcohol. Results confirmed that in general, teacher education and speech language pathology programs provide limited information on these students. There were…

Caring Start is a mobile-clinic program that provides prenatal care, well-baby clinics, childhood immunizations, counseling services, and contraceptives to rural poor families in northwest Pennsylvania. Before the mobile clinic, many rural women (mostly teenagers) went without prenatal health care due to lack of transportation. (LP)

Compared pregnant adolescents intending to relinquish their infants, pregnant adolescents intending to parent, and parenting adolescents on measures of coping and psychosocial adjustment. Pregnant adolescents intending to relinquish their infants showed better overall levels of self-image than the other two groups. Coping strategy differences were…

Estimates the number of infants exposed to legal and illegal substances before birth, drawing on 27 published reports and National Institute on Drug Abuse data. The following are estimated exposure levels: (1) cocaine, 2-3 percent; (2) marijuana, 3-12 percent; (3) cigarettes, 38 percent; and (4) alcohol, 73 percent. (SLD)