The Family Festival Prevention Model: findings from a pilot of a teenage pregnancy prevention programme conceptualised by and for Mexican American communities

Abstract

Despite an overall reduction in teenage pregnancy rates in the USA, the decrease for young women of Mexican heritage in the USA has been less significant than the decrease for their White and African-American peers. Furthermore, the availability of teenage pregnancy prevention models that are conceptualised specifically for people of Mexican descent is minimal. Using qualitative focus group data that were triangulated against quantitative survey data and collected from 35 young people and their parents, this paper presents findings from the pilot of a teenage pregnancy prevention model designed for and with input from Mexican American young women and men and their parents. Reflecting a favourable and impactful experience for the participants, the findings present implications for future intervention efforts and research.

Keywords:

• Mexican American
• young people
• teenage pregnancy
• prevention
• USA

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Voices for Healthy Choices programme staff of Healthy Connections, Inc. for their work in delivering the model, and the parents and young people who informed the model's development. We also wish to thank Van Bivens and Catherine Kabasia, who worked with us on this project. The statements and opinions expressed are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the US Department of Health and Human Services.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

We acknowledge the support of the US Federal Office of Adolescent Pregnancy Programmes. Developing and piloting the model was made possible by the US Department of Health and Human Services [grant number APH PA 00111-01].