Chapter # Title of Chapter

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HHS Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) Evidence Review 

Call for Studies 

https://tppevidencereview.youth.gov

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: June 12, 2023 

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) seeks studies to include in a 

systematic review of the evidence base on programs that impact teen pregnancy, sexually 

transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV, and associated sexual risk behaviors. Submissions are due 

by June 12, 2023. 

Background 

Rates of teenage sex, pregnancy, births, and abortions have generally declined since the 1990s, 

yet concerns persist about teen sexual activity and the associated rates of pregnancy and STIs 

among young people.1

1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2023). Youth Risk Behavior Survey: Data Summary and Trends 2011-

2021. 

,2

2 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2023). Youth Risk Behavior Survey: Data Summary and Trends 2011-

2021. 

Data from the last decade reveal fewer youth are having sex, and when 

they do, they are using more effective contraception.3

3 Youth risk behavior survey data summary and trends report 2009–2019.

 However, youth report they are less likely 

to use condoms than they were a decade ago.4

4 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2023). Youth Risk Behavior Survey: Data Summary and Trends 2011-

2021. 

 This change has corresponded with a recent uptick 

in reported STIs.5

5 Youth risk behavior survey data summary and trends report 2009–2019. 

,6

6 For STI rates we refer to 2019 data because, due to healthcare visits going down during the pandemic, the number 

of STI tests in 2021 was much lower than in 2019 and, therefore, the number of diagnoses was lower. We need to 

wait for future years of STI surveillance data to better understand current STI rates. The CDC says we should 

interpret 2020 and 2021 STI trends cautiously: Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance, 2020 (cdc.gov). 

There are disparities in STI rates by age and race. In 2019, over half (55.4%) 

of STI cases were reported among adolescents and young adults aged 15-24 years.7

7 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2021). Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance 2019. Atlanta: U.S. 

Department of Health and Human Services. 

 In addition, 

30.6% of all cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis in 2019 were among non-Hispanic 

Black individuals, even though they made up only approximately 12.5% of the U.S. population. 

These disparities are unlikely to be explained by differences in sexual behavior, and rather reflect 

differences in access to quality sexual health care as well as differences in the prevalence rate of 

STIs in communities in which people live and partner. 

To help identify programs with evidence of effectiveness in reducing these risks, since 2009, 

HHS has sponsored an independent systematic review of the teen pregnancy prevention research 

literature. To date, the review team has identified and assessed 300 program impact studies. 

From these assessments, the team has identified 52 programs with evidence of effectiveness in 
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reducing teen pregnancy, STIs, or associated sexual risk behaviors. Findings from the review are 

posted publicly on an HHS-sponsored website (https://tppevidencereview.youth.gov/).

Purpose 

This call for studies begins another round of reviews and an update to the review findings with

newly published or unpublished manuscripts that were not previously reviewed—particularly 

those released since May 2022, the cutoff for the last review update. Studies can be evaluations 

of new programs or adaptations of programs, including cultural adaptations or adaptations in 

methods of delivery such as online or virtual delivery. 

New to the review this round—core components! Components are the elements or activities that 

make up a program and inform the field about whether and which aspects of a program are 

effective. Some examples of component studies could include examining the impact of adding 

specific content (for instance, content about condoms), a particular delivery mechanism (for 

instance, demonstration) or a combination of content and delivery mechanism (for instance, 

condom demonstrations). Studies of components will need to meet the same eligibility and 

evidence standards as studies of full programs. 

New manuscripts will be identified through a literature search and this public call for studies. 

For a list of previously reviewed studies, search the study database available on the TPP 

Evidence Review website at https://tppevidencereview.youth.gov/StudyDatabase.aspx.

Findings from this update will be made publicly available on the TPP Evidence Review website

in spring 2024. These findings will serve as a general update to the field on the state of the 

evidence and will not necessarily be tied to federal funding or any particular federal grant 

announcement. Funding decisions are made separately by federal program offices in accordance 

with their legislative authority.

Studies submitted in response to this call should: 

• Use quantitative data, statistical analysis, and hypothesis testing to examine the 

impacts of an intervention or its components. Interventions may focus on a range 

of approaches to reducing teen pregnancy, STIs, or associated risk behaviors—such 

as encouraging teens to wait to have sex, providing information on contraception, 

teaching refusal skills, or discussing the health consequences of sexual activity.

Components of programs can include content, dosage, delivery mechanism, format, 

staffing, or setting. The components should be delivered as part of or supplemental to 

a TPP program. 

• Assess program or program component impacts on at least one measure of 

sexual initiation, sexual activity, number of sexual partners, contraceptive use 

and/or consistency, STIs, pregnancy, or birth.

• Focus on U. S. youth ages 19 or younger at the start of a program.

• Provide a detailed description of the component and/or intervention being 

evaluated, target population, the study design, the analysis methods, and 

findings. Paper abstracts, slide show presentations, and other informal study 

descriptions generally do not provide enough information and therefore will not be 

considered for review.
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• Be accessible to the public through a website, as a published journal article or 

book chapter, or upon request from the study author. The studies received 

through this call will not be publicly distributed or published. However, to ensure 

transparency in the review process, any study considered for review must be available 

to the public. Authors should not submit confidential manuscripts or evidence that is 

not otherwise publicly available.

Please note: The TPPER evidence standards are in the process of being updated for the 

upcoming round of review. We do not expect major changes to the standards for study quality or 

evidence of effectiveness beyond adding more detail about how some of the standards are 

applied. However, there are two potential changes to the study eligibility criteria. In addition to 

allowing studies of components of TPP programs to be eligible, HHS is considering using a 15-

year window of eligibility (from the date of the final data collection) rather than a 20-year 

window of eligibility (from the publication date) to keep the review findings current and 

encourage continued research on established programs. The updated TPPER version 7.0 protocol 

should be available to the public in summer 2023. Until then, authors should refer to the existing 

version 6.0 protocol (https://tppevidencereview.youth.gov/pdfs/TPPER-Review-ProtocolVersion-6.0.pdf). However, a study that is eligible under and/or meets the current version 6.0 

study quality standards may not be eligible or meet the quality standards under the forthcoming 

version 7.0 standards. All studies reviewed in the upcoming round will be assessed against the 

forthcoming TPPER version 7.0 standards. At this time, studies reviewed in prior rounds will not 

be reassessed using the forthcoming version 7.0 standards, but they may be reassessed against 

updated standards in the future. 

Submission Instructions 

Submissions should be emailed in MS Word or PDF format to:

TPPER@mathematica-mpr.com

The deadline for submissions is June 12, 2023.

Authors will receive acknowledgement of receipt of their submission. If you submitted a study in 

2022, you do not need to submit the study again. It was either reviewed and will be part of the 

spring 2023 website update or will be considered for review again during the 2023-2024 review 

cycle. When we identify more studies than we have resources to review, which was the case in 

2022, we use a prioritization process to select the studies to review in that review cycle.