Who do teens look up to in their neighborhoods? adults' and youths' opinions about socio-emotional support and role models in communities with elevated and declining teen birth rates

Family environment, relationships with adults, and role models exert a powerful influence on youth behavior. Researchers have reported that family structure and parent-youth interactions such as socio-emotional support and supervision independently influence sexual initiation, contraceptive use, and teen pregnancy. We explored youth perceptions and experiences of socio-emotional support and positive role models provided by their parents and other adults, as well as adults' perceptions about youth role models and parent-teen interactions in 10 communities in California with elevated and declining teen birth rates. We conducted 22 focus groups with 186 youth and 94 individual interviews with adult stakeholders working with youth. Data were analyzed with Atlas.ti 7 using a grounded theory approach. In both types of communities—with elevated or declining teen birth rates—we found a disparity between youth and adult views on role models. While youth expressed that they perceived their teachers, family, or community members as role models, the majority of adults thought that youth's role models were public figures such as celebrities or harmful local figures including gang members. Adults associated teen pregnancy with lack of cohesion and supervision in families due to challenging economic conditions. Female youth, in comparison with male youth, more often perceived a lack of trust and over-control from their parents; while male youth more often identified a lack of emotional support and positive relations between adults and youth. Youth programs should identify sources of socio-emotional support and foster positive youth-adult interactions in order to meet youth needs and prevent teen pregnancy