ERIC Number: EJ1222185
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019-Aug
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1090-1981
EISSN: N/A
The Relationship between School Dropout and Pregnancy among Adolescent Girls and Young Women in South Africa: A HPTN 068 Analysis
Stoner, Marie C. D.; Rucinski, Katherine B.; Edwards, Jessie K.; Selin, Amanda; Hughes, James P.; Wang, Jing; Agyei, Yaw; Gomez-Olive, F. Xavier; MacPhail, Catherine; Kahn, Kathleen; Pettifor, Audrey
Health Education & Behavior, v46 n4 p559-568 Aug 2019
Background: Prevention of both school dropout and teen pregnancy represent clear public health priorities for South Africa, yet their complex and potentially cyclical relationship has not been fully explored. Objective: To further understand how this relationship operates, we analyzed data from a randomized trial of young women aged 13 to 20 years enrolled in school in rural South Africa to estimate the association between pregnancy and subsequent dropout and between dropout and subsequent pregnancy. Method: We examined inverse probability (IP) of exposure-weighted survival curves for school dropout by pregnancy and for pregnancy by school dropout. We used weighted curves to calculate 1-, 2-, and 3-year risk differences and risk ratios. Additionally, we used an IP-weighted marginal structural cox model to estimate a hazard ratio (HR) for each relationship. Results: Dropout from school was associated with subsequent pregnancy (HR 3.58; 95% confidence interval [CI] [2.04, 6.28]) and pregnancy was associated with subsequent school dropout (HR 2.36; 95% CI [1.29, 4.31]). Young women who attended school but attended fewer days had a higher hazard of pregnancy than those who attended more school (HR 3.64; 95% CI [2.27, 5.84]). Conclusion: Pregnancy is both a cause and a consequence of school dropout. Consideration of school attendance and academic performance could ultimately enhance pregnancy prevention efforts in this population. Programs should be tailored differently for (1) girls who have dropped out of school, (2) those who are in school and at risk for pregnancy, and (3) those who are in school and become pregnant.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Dropouts, Dropout Prevention, Pregnancy, Adolescents, Females, Rural Schools, At Risk Students, Secondary School Students, Attendance Patterns, Academic Achievement
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2814
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Institutes of Health (DHHS); National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID/NIH); National Institute of Mental Health (DHHS/NIH); National Institute on Drug Abuse (DHHS/PHS)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: South Africa
Grant or Contract Numbers: R01MH110186; 2T32AI10262306; UM1AI068619; UM1AI068617; UM1AI068613; R01MH087118; P2CHD050924