Improving Adolescent Health Policy: Incorporating a Framework for Assessing State-Level Policies

Abstract

Many US policies that affect health are made at the state, not the federal, level. Identifying state-level policies and data to analyze how different policies affect outcomes may help policy makers ascertain the usefulness of their public policies and funding decisions in improving the health of adolescent populations. A framework for describing and assessing the role of federal and state policies on adolescent health and well-being is proposed; an example of how the framework might be applied to the issue of teen childbearing is included. Such a framework can also help inform analyses of whether and how state and federal policies contribute to the variation across states in meeting adolescent health needs. A database on state policies, contextual variables, and health outcomes data can further enable researchers and policy makers to examine how these factors are associated with behaviors they aim to impact.

The effects of soda taxes on adolescent sugar intake and blood sugar

“…Adolescent intake of added sugars is high (Bailey et al, 2018), and our study's results suggest that the sensitivity of soft drink demand may be particularly tax (price) sensitive in the adolescent population, a period in which there is rapid physical growth as well as substantial gains in financial independence and food choice autonomy (Story et al, 2002; Tefft, 2018). Adolescence is also a life stage during which many habit‐forming behaviors that have long‐term health consequences occur and is thus an important time for health promotion, prevention, and intervention (Brindis & Moore, 2014), so additional analysis of soda tax (price) sensitivity in this population is warranted. In particular, study of the impacts of recently implemented large excise taxes on SSBs on dietary intake, untaxed substitutes for taxed SSBs, and diet‐related health among adolescents can shed more light on the extent to which soda taxes can be used as a policy lever for efforts to curb high excess empty calorie and intake of added sugars in the adolescent population (Muth et al, 2019).…”

The Double Bind of School Nurses and Policy Implementation: Intersecting the Street-Level Bureaucracy Framework and Teaching Sexual Health Education

“…Comprehensive SHE in school environments has been shown to positively affect adolescent health outcomes by decreasing risky sexual behaviors and by strengthening protective behaviors (Kirby & Laris, 2009). In addition, policies that clearly support comprehensive SHE in schools can positively influence the sexual health outcomes of adolescents such as reducing unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (Brindis & Moore, 2014). Yet, despite their role in providing health education, school nurses can often be overlooked as resources for education interventions, and their underrepresented view can be left out of vital policy discussions (Brewin et al, 2014; Raible et al, 2017).…”

Diagnostic indicators of risk‐prone health behaviors in pregnant adolescents

“…In addition to the defining characteristics and related factors listed in the NANDA-I taxonomy, the main researcher carried out an integrative literature review to identify evidence of other possible clinical indicators of risk-prone health behavior in pregnant adolescents. This review led to the inclusion of two additional clinical indicators: inappropriate eating habits and multiple sexual partners (Brindis & Moore, 2014;Childs et al, 2015;Dean et al, 2014;Moraes et al, 2014;Schalet et al, 2014) and three etiological factors: negative influence of friends, restricted access to health services, and isolated region of residence (Dean et al, 2014;Ezer et al, 2016;Gondim et al, 2015). These clinical indicators and etiological factors were added to the list of defining characteristics and related factors.…”