MCH Alert


Maternal and Child Health Library

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December 22, 2005

1. Partnership Examines Integration of Women's Health into Health Professions Training Curricula
2. Public Awareness Initiative Focuses on Underage Drinking Among Adolescent Girls
3. Parent Education Intervention Aimed at Delaying Sexual Initiation Among Adolescents Evaluated

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Readers: MCH Alert will not be published for the next 2 weeks. The next issue is scheduled for January 13, 2006. Happy holidays!

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1. PARTNERSHIP EXAMINES INTEGRATION OF WOMEN'S HEALTH INTO HEALTH PROFESSIONS TRAINING CURRICULA

Beyond Women's Health: Incorporating Sex and Gender Differences into Graduate Public Health Curricula presents findings from a curriculum review study to assess how women's health is addressed in required and elective courses for the Master of Public Health degree. The report, produced by the Association of Schools of Public Health in collaboration with the federal agencies' women's health partnership, extends the available information at schools of public health regarding an increased recognition of women's health issues across the life span. A brief synthesis of the overall findings is presented, followed by discussions of the findings from focus groups, an online student/alumni survey, and curricula review. Conclusions and recommendations are also provided. The report is available at ftp://ftp.hrsa.gov/hrsa/womenshealthcurricula.pdf.

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2. SURVEY RESULTS SERVE AS FOUNDATION FOR PUBLIC AWARENESS INITIATIVE ABOUT UNDERAGE DRINKING AMONG ADOLESCENT GIRLS

Girl Talk: Choices and Consequences of Underage Drinking is intended to increase knowledge about the prevalence of underage drinking among girls and to improve dialogue among mothers and their adolescent daughters. The initiative, developed by the Century Council in partnership with the Society for Women’s Health Research and the Montgomery County Maryland Alcohol Beverage Control Board, utilizes data from surveys of daughters (ages 13-15, 16-18, and 19-20) and their mothers, including data on the health consequences of most concern to the girls and on their advice to mothers about discussing underage drinking. Components of the initiative include
More information is available at http://www.girlsanddrinking.org.

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3. AUTHORS EVALUATE PARENT EDUCATION INTERVENTION AIMED AT DELAYING SEXUAL INITIATION AMONG ADOLESCENTS

"This evaluation suggests that Saving Sex for Later can help parents influence the choices their young adolescents in communities where the rates of early initiation, as well as the negative consequences of sexual activity, are high," state the authors of an article published in the December 2005 issue of Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health. Recent data indicate that a rising proportion of high school students have initiated sexual intercourse (from 6.6% to 7.4% between 2001 and 2003) and that there are ongoing disparities in the timing of sexual initiation among white, Hispanic, and black adolescents. A promising strategy for addressing early sexual initiation is parent education. The article reports evidence from a randomized field trial to evaluate Saving Sex for Later, a parent education intervention aimed at delaying early sexual initiation among at-risk urban fifth and sixth graders.

Saving Sex for Later consists of three 25-minute audio CDs that were developed with community input and that contain role-model stories to help parents identify "teachable moments" during which they can talk with their sons and daughters about values and expectations, set household rules, and respond appropriately to their children's development and warning signs. To evaluate the intervention, one parent and one child from families with fifth and sixth graders in seven New York City public schools completed baseline surveys and then were randomly assigned to the intervention or control group. The schools were located in neighborhoods where most residents are black or Hispanic and where 90% of the students are eligible for free lunch programs. The three CDs were mailed to intervention family homes over 6 months at the rate of one CD about every 10 weeks. At baseline and 3 months after the third CD was sent to the intervention group families, parents completed brief surveys that collected information on parenting practices and whether parents in the intervention group had received and listened to the CDs. The students completed baseline and follow-up surveys that assessed parental monitoring and support as well as behavioral risks related to early sexual initiation.

At follow-up, the authors found that
"Our findings suggest that the intervention is effective in promoting positive parenting practices in a sample of parents who are typically difficult to reach," conclude the authors. Further research is needed to test whether the intervention (1) delays sexual initiation through middle school and into high school and (2) is effective in helping males as well as females remain abstinent.

O'Donnell L, Stueve A, Agronick G, et al. 2005. Saving sex for later: An evaluation of a parent education intervention. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health 37(4):166-173. Abstract available at http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/3716605.html.

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