DATA ARCHIVE ON ADOLESCENT PREGNANCY AND PREGNANCY PREVENTION

Sociometrics Corporation, Los Altos CA

Investigators

Abstract

This contract is to enable the continuous updating of an archive of web and CD accessible data files on adolecent pregnancy and pregnancy prevention research. This initiative was begun by the DHHS Office of Population Affairs [OPA] in 1984, when they established a public-use archive of computerized data on adolescent pregnancy and pregnancy prevention data, including data files, with all identifiers removed. Sociometrics was the contractor for this service. This Sociometrics archive now contains more than 150 studies. It has made extant data accessible, so that not all research projects addressing adolescent pregnancy prevention or interventions are needed to initiate costly data collection efforts. In order to select appropriate studies for the archive, ongoing federally funded and other research projects were evaluated as to their scientific quality, by a panel of experts in the area of teen pregnancy prevention research. Those studies that met the standards stated in the original OPA guidelines, as revised, were included in the archive. It is available for purchase in CD Rom format and by download from the web by Sociometrics with supporting documentation including the data collection instruments used in the original studies. The cost for purchasing this data covers the costs incurred by Sociometrics to duplicate the data. Over the intervening years, sufficient numbers of users of the data archives have been developed so that the ongoing maintenance of the holdings has become self-sustaining. In addition, the contractor started, with separate funding, a data archive on intervention programs and training in the use of selected intervention programs. This archive was named PASHA. NICHD contributed to the early development costs of PASHA through an interagency agreement. The CDC and OPA no longer contribute to the archiving, due to lack of funds. But the project remains funded by NICHD and is included in the follow-on award. The Data Archive on Adolescent Pregnancy and Pregnancy Prevention (DAAPPP) was established by the US Office of Population Affairs (OPA) in 1982 as the repository for the best social science data on the incidence, prevalence, antecedents and consequences of teenage pregnancy and family planning. In 1994, the scope of DAAPPP was expanded to include studies that focus more broadly on adolescent sexual health issues, thereby including studies examining behavioral factors related to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in addition to pregnancy. The resource is currently funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) under contract number N01-HD-4-3387. DAAPPP currently holds data from over 150 premiere studies (many of them longitudinal) on sexuality, health, and adolescence. Data sets were selected as being among the best in the field by a national panel of experts in adolescent fertility and sexual behavior.