Entertainment education and gender: how do they contribute to the prevention of teen and unplanned pregnancy?

Ming Lei

Teen and unplanned pregnancies are urgent concerns of the U.S. The United States has the highest teen birth rates among all industrialized countries and the rate is currently rising. Meanwhile, unplanned pregnancy among young adults has become another concern because young adults have the highest unplanned pregnancy rate and the rate rose significantly from the past. Previous research has shown that entertainment media in the U.S is high in sexual content. Further, exposure to such content is associated with risky sexual activities among young people, which may lead to higher teen and unplanned pregnancy rates. Existing literatures, however, also indicate the entertainment media in the U.S can be used as an effective vehicle to promote sexual health. In particular, a communication strategy named entertainment education has shown promising results in promoting health. Further, media research has documented gender differences in media selection and effects. Therefore, the present study examined whether exposure to entertainment education would affect viewers' attitudes and behavioral intentions related to prevention of teen and unplanned pregnancy. In addition, the study assessed gender differences as well as the interaction between gender and entertainment education in terms of prevention of teen and unplanned pregnancy. The study was a posttest only with control group experiment. The participants of the study were 177 undergraduate students. The results of the study suggested that entertainment education had positive effects in prevention of teen and unplanned pregnancy. It stimulated open communication about sexual health issues among young people. The study also revealed gender differences. Female participants in general had higher motivation to avoid pregnancy and lower permissive sexual attitude than male participants. The study also has practical implications. Media scholars and practitioners can use entertainment education to encourage open communication of sexual health, which is both needed and wanted by young people. Also, media scholars and practitioners should design media messages that are gender specific to better target males and females, respectively.

Entertainment education and gender: how do they contribute to the prevention of teen and unplanned pregnancy?

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