Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Katharine J. McCarthy, Katarzyna Wyka, Diana Romero, Karen Austrian, Heidi E. Jones
Summary: This study examines the role of agency in early and unwanted adolescent childbearing among girls in Zambia. The findings show that a substantial proportion of adolescent girls lack the ability to decide their reproductive future. Early life resources are associated with augmented agency, while exposure to negative events such as violence and early marriage detract from high agency status. Strategies addressing gender norms and early marriage may help protect girls' agency and reduce unwanted fertility outcomes.
SSM-POPULATION HEALTH
(2022)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Mojgan Janighorban, Zahra Boroumandfar, Razieh Pourkazemi, Firoozeh Mostafavi
Summary: vulnerable adolescent girls face numerous barriers to accessing sexual and reproductive health services, including personal, family, social, legal, and political factors. Developing comprehensive and practical programs, alongside legal and political support, can provide a foundation for their sexual and reproductive health.
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Katja Isaksen, Ingvild Sandoy, Joseph Zulu, Andrea Melberg, Sheena Kabombwe, Mweetwa Mudenda, Patrick Musonda, Joar Svanemyr
Summary: Adolescents may feel shy or uncomfortable when asked direct questions about sexual behavior, pregnancy, and abortion. Establishing familiarity and trust can reduce discomfort and increase honesty in responses. Efforts to signal non-judgment, along with repeated interviews by the same interviewer, can also improve the quality of data collected.
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH
(2022)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Michael T. Mbizvo, Kondwani Kasonda, Nelly-Claire Muntalima, Joseph G. Rosen, Sophie Inambwae, Edith S. Namukonda, Ronald Mungoni, Natasha Okpara, Chifundo Phiri, Nachela Chelwa, Chabu Kangale
Summary: Linking comprehensive sexuality education with accessible sexual and reproductive health services can reduce early and unintended pregnancies and improve sexual and reproductive health outcomes.
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Julia Brasileiro, Laura Widman, Jeffrey L. Hurst
Summary: This study examined how an online sexual health program called HEART worked, and found that it significantly improved sexual communication skills. The effects were fully mediated through sexual self-efficacy, which means that HEART improved sexual self-efficacy and then led to better communication skills. Moreover, the program's acceptability and participants' sexual activity status also moderated the efficacy of HEART. The findings highlight the importance of understanding the mechanisms and conditions under which sexual health programs are effective.
PSYCHOLOGY & HEALTH
(2023)
Article
Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary
Walter C. Millanzi, Kalafunja M. Osaki, Stephen M. Kibusi
Summary: Regardless of the importance of youth in socio-economic development, adolescents in Tanzania aged between 10 and 19 years face issues related to their basic needs as well as Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH). This study found that parent-adolescent communication about SRH matters was low, with 73.3% of adolescents reporting never having discussed it with their parents. The study suggests the need for collaborative interventions to improve parent-adolescent communication about SRH matters.
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Mumbi Chola, Khumbulani Hlongwana, Themba G. Ginindza
Summary: This study explored the experiences of Zambian adolescent girls in using contraceptives through qualitative methods. The results revealed that adolescent girls' contraceptive experiences are influenced by various factors, including knowledge of contraceptives, experience with using contraceptives, challenges with access to contraceptives, misconceptions about contraceptives, perspectives about existing contraceptives, and preferred types of contraceptives.
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Laura Gauer Bermudez, Drosin Mulenga, Maurice Musheke, Sanyukta Mathur
Summary: This study examines how adolescent girls and young women in Zambia understand financial agency and its impact on intimate relationships. The results suggest that while financial independence can translate into sexual agency for HIV risk reduction, male sexual privilege remains a significant obstacle.
GLOBAL PUBLIC HEALTH
(2022)
Article
Nutrition & Dietetics
Debbe Thompson, Yiming Mirabile, Noemi Islam, Chishinga Callender, Salma M. A. Musaad, Julie Miranda, Jennette P. Moreno, Jayna M. Dave, Tom Baranowski
Summary: This study evaluated the effect of a culturally adapted behaviorally innovative obesity prevention intervention on diet quality in pre-adolescent non-Hispanic Black/African American girls. The results showed no significant differences in overall diet quality. To achieve more equitable health outcomes, future efforts should explore other behavior change procedures and employ more child-friendly dietary assessment methods.
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
G. Alekhya, Swayam Pragyan Parida, Prajna Paramita Giri, Jasmina Begum, Suravi Patra, Dinesh Prasad Sahu
Summary: This study assessed the effectiveness of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) education among adolescent girls in urban areas of Odisha, India. The intervention significantly increased knowledge on SRH among the girls, highlighting the importance of integrating comprehensive SRH into the regular school curriculum.
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH
(2023)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Bolatito O. Ogunbiyi, Sarah Baird, Jeffrey B. Bingenheimer, Amita Vyas
Summary: Despite declines in early childbearing, many adolescent girls in Ethiopia still lack access to improved sexual and reproductive health due to limited agency and role models. This study found that agency and the presence of role models are positively associated with the ideal age at childbirth. Having family members, friends, or famous individuals as role models is linked to an increase in the ideal age at childbirth. Additionally, agency is associated with a positive attitude towards gender-differentiated parental control.
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
L'Emira Lama El Ayoubi, Sawsan Abdulrahim, Maia Sieverding
Summary: The study found that Syrian refugee adolescent girls received inadequate sexual and reproductive health information at the time of menarche and sexual initiation, resulting in anxiety and fear. Girls viewed mothers as a preferred source of information, but mothers were reluctant to communicate with their daughters about sexual and reproductive health.
QUALITATIVE HEALTH RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Development Studies
Slawa Rokicki
Summary: In sub-Saharan Africa, nearly 2 in 5 girls are married before the age of 18, which has adverse consequences for women's physical, emotional, and social wellbeing. Ethiopia's government passed the Revised Family Code in 2000, increasing the minimum age of marriage for girls and strengthening women's rights within marriage. The study shows that strong legal frameworks for gender equality may help in facilitating social change around child marriage.
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Hanne Keyser Hegdahl, Patrick Musonda, Joar Svanemyr, Joseph Mumba Zulu, Taran Gronvik, Choolwe Jacobs, Ingvild Fossgard Sandoy
Summary: In Sub-Saharan Africa, economic support, comprehensive sexuality education (CSE), and community dialogue can improve the sexual and reproductive health of adolescent girls. Economic support reduces the occurrence of sexual activity, while CSE and community dialogue help in reducing unprotected sexual activity.
SOCIAL SCIENCE & MEDICINE
(2022)
Review
Obstetrics & Gynecology
M. Valeria Bahamondes, Luis Bahamondes
Summary: The use of intrauterine devices (IUDs), including the copper-bearing device and the levonorgestrel intrauterine system (LNG-IUS), is safe and effective for nulligravidas and adolescent girls, but misconceptions and limitations exist. Adolescents have higher rates of expulsion due to bleeding and/or pain, indicating a lower acceptance of IUD-induced side effects compared to adults. Studies have shown the effectiveness of IUD/IUS as a contraceptive method independent of age and parity, but more research is needed to definitively establish their role in long-term contraception for this specific demographic.
ACTA OBSTETRICIA ET GYNECOLOGICA SCANDINAVICA
(2021)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Paul C. Hewett, Mutinta Nalubamba, Fiammetta Bozzani, Jean Digitale, Lung Vu, Eileen Yam, Mary Nambao
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Paul C. Hewett, Amanda L. Willig, Jean Digitale, Erica Soler-Hampejsek, Jere R. Behrman, Karen Austrian
Summary: The study found that a tailored nutritional education curriculum for adolescent girls did not significantly improve their nutritional outcomes or those of their children. Factors such as adolescent preferences, resource control, and household dynamics need to be considered in designing effective nutritional educational programs.
PUBLIC HEALTH NUTRITION
(2021)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Jean Digitale, Ali Sie, Boubacar Coulibaly, Lucienne Ouermi, Clarisse Dah, Charlemagne Tapsoba, Till Baernighausen, Elodie Lebas, Ahmed Arzika, Medellena Glymour, Jeremy Keenan, Thuy Doan, Catherine Oldenburg
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE AND HYGIENE
(2020)
Article
Immunology
Jean C. Digitale, Perri C. Callaway, Maureen Martin, George Nelson, Mathias Viard, John Rek, Emmanuel Arinaitwe, Grant Dorsey, Moses Kamya, Mary Carrington, Isabel Rodriguez-Barraquer, Margaret E. Feeney
Summary: The study found that HLA class I molecules play a role in restricting parasitemia caused by P. falciparum, but no HLA alleles were associated with protection from malaria. This suggests the essential role of the cellular immune response in P. falciparum immunity.
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Jean C. Digitale, Jeffrey N. Martin, Medellena Maria Glymour
Summary: Directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) are a powerful tool in clinical and epidemiologic research for analyzing causal relationships. By constructing DAGs, researchers can understand the mechanisms through which treatments and exposures impact outcomes, guiding study design and statistical analysis. DAGs can help control confounding and selection bias, while identifying sources of bias that may be introduced in the analysis.
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL EPIDEMIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Jean C. Digitale, Pearl W. Chang, Sherian X. Li, Michael W. Kuzniewicz, Thomas B. Newman
Summary: Inpatient phototherapy during birth hospitalisation does not adversely affect breastmilk feeding at 2 months postpartum. There was a slightly positive association between phototherapy and any breastmilk feeding at the 2-month visit. Multiple imputation results were consistent with the main findings.
PAEDIATRIC AND PERINATAL EPIDEMIOLOGY
(2021)
Review
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Jean C. Digitale, Kristefer Stojanovski, Charles E. McCulloch, Margaret A. Handley
Summary: The study highlights that current evaluations of the effectiveness of COVID-19 interventions mainly focus on observational and ecologic studies, which are susceptible to bias. Recommendations are made to strengthen study designs, including implementation-focused, pragmatic designs, to establish a solid evidence base for public health practice.
FRONTIERS IN PUBLIC HEALTH
(2021)
Article
Pediatrics
Jean C. Digitale, Mi-Ok Kim, Michael W. Kuzniewicz, Thomas B. Newman
Summary: This study found no association between phototherapy and the risk of any cancer, hematopoietic cancer, or solid tumors, as well as no relationship with cancer diagnoses at age 4 years or older.
Letter
Health Care Sciences & Services
Jean C. Digitale, Jeffrey N. Martin, Medellena Maria Glymour
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL EPIDEMIOLOGY
(2022)
Letter
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Jin Ge, Jean C. Digitale, Mark J. Pletcher, Jennifer C. Lai
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Sarah Raifman, Michelle A. DeVost, Jean C. Digitale, Yea-Hung Chen, Meghan D. Morris
Summary: The review provides an overview of sampling methods for hard-to-reach populations, emphasizing the advantages of RDS in reaching hidden members of these populations and addressing issues related to generating sampling frames and biased data.
CURRENT EPIDEMIOLOGY REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Immunology
Jean C. Digitale, Perri C. Callaway, Maureen Martin, George Nelson, Mathias Viard, John Rek, Emmanuel Arinaitwe, Grant Dorsey, Moses Kamya, Mary Carrington, Isabel Rodriguez-Barraquer, Margaret E. Feeney
Summary: The study identified a relationship between KIR and HLA genotypes and the risk of Plasmodium falciparum infection, where the presence of HLA-C2 and HLA-Bw4 increased the likelihood of infection, while HLA-C1 decreased it.
JOURNAL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2021)
Letter
Medicine, General & Internal
Jean C. Digitale, Thomas B. Newman
JAMA-JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION
(2020)
Article
Political Science
Jean Digitale, Stephanie Psaki, Erica Soler-Hampejsek, Barbara S. Mensch
ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCE
(2017)