With a growing focus on the importance of men's reproductive health, including preconception health, the ways in which young men's knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs (KAB) predict their reproductive paths are understudied. Young men's KAB in adolescence predicts their future fatherhood and residency status. Strategies that address adolescent males' reproductive KAB are needed in the prevention of unintended reproductive consequences such as early and nonresident fatherhood. (Author abstract modified)
Boys and young men of color are at risk for poor health and developmental outcomes from birth through young adulthood. Many risks flow from a lack of economic resources and residence in segregated neighborhoods of concentrated disadvantage. This paper outlines these developmental challenges and identifies societal, institutional, and community changes that would increase resources, eliminate or reduce stress and trauma, and provide support for boys and families. It also identifies some knowledge gaps that must be filled in order to increase the effectiveness of programs directed toward this…
This report summarizes the key findings from the implementation of Wise Guys, a comprehensive sex education program designed specifically for males implemented in seven Davenport-area middle schools during the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 school years.Wise Guys aim is to promote male responsibility while helping prevent teenage pregnancy. The curriculum also works to strengthen communication between boys and their parents; increase knowledge related to sexual attitudes and the consequences of risky behavior; and enhances boys’ ability to identify personal values and beliefs related to sexuality.…
U.S. women graduate from high school at higher rates than U.S. men, but the female-male educational advantage is larger, and has increased by more, among black students and students of low socioeconomic status (SES) than among white and high-SES students. The authors explore why boys fare worse than girls in low-SES households—both behaviorally and educationally—by exploiting matched birth certificates, health, disciplinary, academic, and high school graduation records for more than 1 million children born in Florida between 1992 and 2002. They account for unobserved family heterogeneity by…
The current investigation examined continuity from 9-months to 4-years of age in father-child interaction in instrumental child care activities, as well as enrichment and play activities, using data collected from 8,450 children with residential fathers included in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS-B). Additionally, social and pre-academic outcomes at age four were examined as potential correlates of father-child interaction. Because these variables may interact differently for boys and girls, associations were examined separately for each sex. Results indicate…
National estimates find approximately 13% of young adults ages 18-24 report that their biological father has served time in jail or prison (Foster and Hagan, 2009). Yet a recent review of existing literature by Murray and Farrington (2008) found no existing studies examining a possible link between paternal incarceration and substance abuse. Using panel data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health, we examine trajectories of marijuana and hard drug use from adolescence into young adulthood. Results indicate that having a father ever incarcerated (FEI) is significantly…
In this article, to examine how attitudes and educational experiences might influence sexual behavior, we analyze three cohorts of unmarried metropolitan teenage males: those aged 17-19 in 1979, in 1988 and in 1995. These time frames capture a period of increasing (1979 to 1988) then decreasing (1988 to 1995) sexual activity. What might account for these shifts in sexual behavior? Changes in teenagers' behavior may be related to shifts in their attitudes about sex and pregnancy, reflecting changes in broader societal norms about sexual behavior. Alternately, public concern about AIDS, STDs…
