A Systematic Review of Pregnancy Prevention Programs for Minority Youth in the U.S.: A Critical Analysis and Recommendations for Improvement

African American and Latino youth experience disproportionate rates of both intended and unintended pregnancy in the United States. A public health priority to ameliorate the high rates among this population has been the creation and proposed expansion of pregnancy prevention programs designed specifically for minority youth. However, little is known about the role of incorporating cultural components into program curricula. To better understand the components and outcomes of existing programs for this population, this systematic review analyzed published outcome evaluations of adolescent pregnancy prevention programs for minority youth. This review of literature published from January 2002 to June 2012 and retrieved from databases PsycInfo and PubMed abstracted results from 10 outcome evaluations, meeting all inclusion criteria. These publications were assessed for intervention characteristics including use of theory, setting, and culturally specific aspects. In addition, aspects of the evaluation including design, outcome variables, and measures were assessed. Nine of the ten evaluations found statistically significant results for a main pregnancy prevention variable (e.g., ever had sex, contraceptive use, or previous birth). The review also indicated areas for improvement in methodological quality, and consistency in cultural components, variables and measures. Implications of this research indicate a positive impact from adolescent pregnancy prevention programs for minority youth, and a need to expand standardized measures and program components as well as increase rigor in research methodology

Foreign Policy and the Chinese Constitutions During the Hu Jintao Administration

This Article is a close examination of how China’s dual constitution system—that is, the nexus of governing power as outlined between the State Constitution and the Communist Party Constitution—provides both jurisdictional and substantive guidance to Chinese foreign policy makers. It especially focuses on the Hu Jintao administration (2002–2012) as the foremost example of grounding foreign policy in the dual constitutions of China. With the success of the Hu administration, the Chinese constitutional law of foreign policy has become theoretically a unique extraterritorial projection of “the rule of law with Chinese characteristics,” with room for future development by both liberals and realists. Part I of this Article begins by introducing the jurisdictional and substantive bases of the Chinese constitutional law of foreign policy. Part II sets out the specific contributions of the Hu Administration, and explains the linkage between the Scientific Development Outlook, the Socialist Harmonious Society platform, and the Peaceful Development strategy. Part III posits how the Chinese constitutions may have informed foreign policy decision- making regarding some of the biggest challenges of the Hu Jintao era. Finally, this Article predicts that the principal constitutional challenge that China will face in the foreseeable future is securing the vast amount of resources it needs to maintain its domestic development while maintaining harmonious relations with the rest of the developing world

Diverging Trends in the Socialist Constitutionalism of the People's Republic of China and Socialist Republic of Vietnam

This chapter provides an overview to comparative study of Sino-Vietnamese comparative constitutionalism by exploring the bases of three core, substantive pillars of socialist constitutionalism through the Sino-Vietnamese comparison: insistence on Party leadership, reliance on socialist rule of law, and adaptation to populism. After considering several examples of how constitutional rules are currently operating through political and popular constitutionalism in all three areas, we conclude that Vietnam is presently moving in a direction offering more prospects for convergence with international norms, as the current Vietnamese Party-state is relatively less politically monolithic, more open to the influence of international laws, and more tolerant of civil society than its Chinese counterpart. That being the case, we predict that Vietnam will likely continue to depart from the increasingly insular Chinese model of constitutional development for the foreseeable future.postprin

Understanding adolescent sexually abstinent behavior and intentions through structural equation modeling and use of the integrated theory

Adolescent sex research, historically, has suffered from 4 limitations: a lack of theoretical grounding to guide the development of hypotheses (in individual studies); the absence of a multidimensional theoretical model on sexual behavior; use of simple univariate/bivariate analytic techniques; and little systematic study of sexual abstinence. These remain important limitations, as the federal government has increased its allocation of millions of dollars annually for abstinence-promotion programs and 1 in 5 US teens still report having had sexual intercourse before the age of 15. The purpose of this dissertation study was to utilize structural equation modeling to 1) test The Integrated Theory in explaining adolescentsâ sexually abstinent behavior and intentions to remain abstinent before marriage, and 2) refine the theory to reflect which elements contribute more powerfully to the explanation of adolescentsâ behavior and intentions. An anonymous, theory-based paper-and-pencil questionnaire was administered to 2 non-random samples of 7th/8th grade youth (Wave 1 N = 451, Wave 2 N = 448), taking part in a broader evaluation study of Title V-funded abstinence-only-until-marriage education programs in Texas. The questionnaire assessed adolescentâ s self-reported sexual behaviors, intentions to remain abstinent, environmental constraints, beliefs, subjective norms, pro-abstinence self-standards, emotions regarding sexual abstinence and sex before marriage, and self-efficacy. Measurement modeling provided sufficient evidence for establishing construct validity. Initial structural model fit (Wave 2 data) was satisfactory; however, a refined model demonstrated better fit, yielding a Ï 2/df ratio of 3.16, CFI/TLI values of 0.73/0.95, and RMSEA and WRMR values of 0.07 and 0.86, respectively. Greater endorsement of abstinence-related standards predicted stronger beliefs toward staying abstinent, stronger perceptions that others endorse pro-abstinence norms, and a greater self-efficacy to remain abstinent until marriage. In turn, beliefs, perceived norms, and self-efficacy were predictive of intentions (β = .379, .300, and .273, respectively, p â ¤ .001). I found similar findings in a second modeling analysis (replication) using a second but similar set of sample data (from Wave 1). Results indicate The Integrated Theory may be useful in explaining adolescentsâ intention to remain abstinent and their subsequent abstinent behavior. I identify several implications for future study and health education practice