Dissertations and Theses @ UNI
Availability
Open Access Thesis
Keywords
Teenage pregnancy--Iowa--Fayette County--Prevention; Student activities--Iowa--Fayette County; School sports--Iowa--Fayette County; School sports; Student activities; Teenage pregnancy--Prevention; Iowa--Fayette County;
Abstract
Extensive research has been done in the area of adolescent pregnancy prevention. One possible means of prevention that has not been adequately explored is involvement in extracurricular school activities. The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship existed between the intensity and duration of participation in extracurricular school activities and the incidence of teenage pregnancy. In the study, 200 female high school students who had never been pregnant and 36 females who had become pregnant as teenagers were surveyed. All females were from Fayette County, Iowa. A 33-item questionnaire was used to survey the two groups regarding their past involvement in extracurricular school activities, prior to having become pregnant. Intensity and duration of participation were examined. An analysis revealed that of all the available extracurricular school activities, basketball, and volleyball had the greatest difference in participation between the females who had become pregnant as adolescents and females who had not. It was also found that the three months with the highest rate of reported conception were December, August, and October. Interestingly, these are also the months that basketball and volleyball are in season. Of the three categories of activities; sports, clubs, and arts, only sports was found to have a significant difference in participation between the two groups of respondents. Data was divided into two-year age groups for further analysis. The 16-17-year-olds were the age group with the most activities that had a significant difference in both frequency and duration of participation between the two groups surveyed. Reasons given by respondents for non-involvement were no interest in extracurricular activities, no time, no ability, and having a job. Of those who gave a reason for non-involvement, 11.8% reported their reason for not participating was that they had no interest in sports. Of the 28 possible activities listed on the questionnaire; only 13 were sports related. Based on the results of this study, it is recommended that schools, parents, and communities make involving their youth in extracurricular school activities a priority. Adults must promote extracurricular activities in arts and clubs in addition to sports. Helping youth find an activity that relates to their interests is key to their continued involvement.
Year of Submission
1998
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
School of Health, Physical Education, and Leisure Services
First Advisor
Thomas Davis
Second Advisor
Michele Yehieli
Third Advisor
Mary Franken
Date Original
1998
Object Description
1 PDF file (77 leaves)
Copyright
©1998 Rhonda L. Drilling
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Drilling, Rhonda L., "The Relationship Between the Intensity and Duration of Extracurricular Activities and Teenage Pregnancy" (1998). Dissertations and Theses @ UNI. 1836.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd/1836
Comments
If you are the rightful copyright holder of this thesis and wish to have it removed from the Open Access Collection, please submit a request to scholarworks@uni.edu and include clear identification of the work, preferably with URL.