A meta-analysis of interventions to reduce repeat pregnancy and birth among teenagers

Almost 20% of teen mothers have more than one child before age 20. Researchers have implemented many interventions to prevent subsequent births. The purpose of this study was to examine their effectiveness in preventing repeat pregnancy/birth. We searched nine electronic databases for eligible studies conducted through September, 2014; 47 primary studies met our criteria and provided 52 comparisons. We coded the primary studies for characteristics related to study source, participants, interventions, methods, and outcomes. Using meta-analytic techniques, we calculated intervention effect sizes (ESs) on repeat pregnancy/birth within three time periods: \u3c15 months after the first\u3ebirth, 15-35 months, and after 36-60 months. Primary studies included 219,086 teen mothers with a mean age of 16.9 years. Interventions had a medium effect in reducing repeat pregnancy/birth for each time period. Teen mothers who received an intervention had 36-60% lower rates of repeat pregnancy/birth than control/comparison mothers. Of the many moderators examined for each time period, only a few explained additional variance. Our results indicate that interventions are moderately effective for as long as 60 months after a prior teen birth. It remains unclear which interventions are most effective, for which teens, and under what circumstances

Weaving dreamcatchers: mothering among American Indian women who were teen mothers

AIMS: The aim of this study was to explore the mothering experience and practice among reservation based adult American Indian women who had been adolescent mothers. BACKGROUND: Adolescent American Indian women are at an elevated risk for teen pregnancy and poor maternal/child outcomes. Identifying mothering practices among this population may help guide intervention development that will improve health outcomes. DESIGN: A collaborative orientation to community based participatory research approach. METHODS: Employing interpretive phenomenology, 30 adult American Indian women who resided on a Northwestern reservation were recruited. In-depth, face-to-face and telephone interviews were conducted between 2007 and 2008. FINDINGS: Women shared their mothering experience and practice which encompassed a lifespan perspective grounded in their American Indian cultural tradition. Four themes were identified: mother hen, interrupted mothering and second chances, breaking cycles and mothering a community. Mothering originated in childhood, extended across their lifespan and moved beyond mothering their biological offspring. CONCLUSION: These findings challenge the Western construct of mothering and charge nurses to seek culturally sensitive interventions that reinforce positive mothering practices and identify when additional mothering support is needed across a woman’s lifespan

Therapeutic letters : effects on nursing students and recipients [abstract]

Therapeutic letter writing (TLW) is a well known strategy in counseling and therapy. However, its effectiveness as an educational tool in undergraduate nursing programs has not been studied. The authors conducted a qualitative study to examine students' and recipients' responses to writing and receiving therapeutic letters