Applying an intervention framework to assess North Carolina's adolescent pregnancy prevention efforts

Abstract

Purpose: We assessed the extent to which implementing adolescent pregnancy prevention programs in conjunction with three level implementation strategies reduces adolescent pregnancy rates at the county-level in North Carolina (NC).

Methods: Fixsen and colleagues' (2005) three levels of implementation were used to organize the prevention strategies: core (e.g., training, fidelity monitoring), organizational (e.g., administrative support), and external (e.g., community resources).

Results: Counties that had adolescent friendly clinic/services (external) were more likely to report lower adolescent pregnancy rates in comparison to counties that did not have access to such services.

Conclusions: Findings suggest external implementation strategies are key to reducing adolescent pregnancy rates.

Keywords: Adolescent pregnancy; Intervention frameworks; Teen pregnancy prevention.