PS-003 Acceptability And Initial Efficacy Of Simple, Written, Educational Materials For Adolescent Mothers In The United States

• Published in: Archives of disease in childhood Vol. 99; no. Suppl 2; p. A112
• Main Authors: Davis, D, Logsdon, MC, Stikes, R, Ratterman, R, Ryan, L, Meyers, J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London BMJ Publishing Group LTD 01-10-2014
• Subjects: Adolescents; Breast feeding; Breastfeeding & lactation; Brochures; Child care; Children; Educational materials; Health education; Health literacy; Infant Care; Infants; Instructional Materials; Knowledge; Literacy; Mental depression; Mothers; Parent-child relations; Postpartum; Public Schools; Teenage parents; Teenagers; Variance analysis; Young Children; United States > US
• ISSN: 0003-9888; 1468-2044
• DOI: 10.1136/archdischild-2014-307384.298

BackgroundHealth literacy has been associated with a variety of health outcomes and behaviours in adults and children. Relatively little is known about health literacy of pregnant and parenting teens. The current study evaluated the acceptability and efficacy of simple, written, educational materials.MethodsA convenience sample (n = 129) of English-speaking adolescent mothers (M = 16.98 years; SD = 1.04) was recruited from a public school system. A simple pamphlet was developed for each of 4 common topics (breastfeeding, postpartum depression, infant care, and bonding). Participants completed a pretest on knowledge, read a simple educational pamphlet, and completed an immediate posttest. Participants also completed the Parental Health Literacy Activities Test (PHLAT) and a measure of acceptability. A two-week posttest followed. The Cochran-Armitage test of trends and repeated measures ANOVA were used.ResultsThe teens agreed (n = 96; 82.1%) or partially agreed (n = 14; 12%) that the pamphlets were easy to read. Knowledge improved on 6 of the 10 questions. Correct responses to the PHLAT items ranged from 27.6%–97.6% (M = 61.79% ±16.7%). The intervention was associated with an increase in PPD (67.4% vs. 76.4% vs. 84.3%, p = 0.031), baby bonding (74.8% vs. 87.8% vs. 86.2%, p = 0.013) and breastfeeding (58.5% vs. 75.6% vs. 79.7%, p = 0.005) knowledge over time, but had no effect on infant care knowledge over time (94.3% vs. 97.6% vs. 95.9%, p = 0.434).Conclusions/discussionSimple, written pamphlets, following US national health literacy guidelines, improved knowledge over time and were acceptable to adolescent mothers. Health literacy skills were limited and appear to be associated with initial knowledge.