Baby Think It Over: evaluation of an infant simulation intervention for adolescent pregnancy prevention.
In an intervention aimed at showing students the amount of responsibility involved in caring for an infant, 353 predominantly ninth-grade and Latino students carried the Baby Think It Over simulation doll in an intervention and completed matched pre- and posttest measures. Statistically significant gains were found on the total score and the impact of having a baby on academics, social life, and other family members; emotional risks; understanding and handling an infant's crying; and apprehension of the amount of responsibility involved in infant care. On a posttest-only measure, 108 participants reported statistically significant differences before and after carrying the doll with regard to the age at which they wished to have a child, their career and education plans, and the perceived interference of an infant with those education and career plans and their social life.
Department of Social Welfare, School of Public Affairs, University of California, Los Angeles 90095, USA. ddeanda@ucla.edu
Diane
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de Anda
D000293:Adolescent; D003448:Crying; D018961:Educational Technology; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007224:Infant Care / Q000379:methods* / Q000523:psychology; D015141:Los Angeles; D008297:Male; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D010988:Play and Playthings; D011247:Pregnancy; D011253:Pregnancy in Adolescence / Q000208:ethnology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012572:School Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000208:ethnology; D013664:Teaching Materials; D013997:Time Factors