Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32925926›Full record

ArticlePloS one2020

Political prioritization and the competing definitions of adolescent pregnancy in Kenya: An application of the Public Arenas Model.

Maricianah A Onono, George W Rutherford, Elizabeth A Bukusi, Justin S White, Eric Goosby, Claire D Brindis

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
1.9field-weighted citation impact, top 11% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Maricianah A OnonoKenya Medical Research Institute, Centre for Microbiology Research, Nairobi, Kenya.ORCID 0000-0001-6847-8762
George W RutherfordInstitute of Global Health Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America.
Elizabeth A BukusiKenya Medical Research Institute, Centre for Microbiology Research, Nairobi, Kenya.
Justin S WhiteInstitute of Global Health Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America.ORCID 0000-0002-3388-9569
Eric GoosbyInstitute of Global Health Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America.
Claire D BrindisInstitute of Global Health Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America.
University of California, San Francisco · USKenya Medical Research Institute · KE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundApproximately one in every five adolescent girls in Kenya has either had a live birth or is pregnant with her first child. There is an urgent need to understand the language and symbols used to represent adolescent pregnancy, if the current trend in adolescent pregnancy is to be reversed. Agreement on the definition of a societal problem is an important precursor to a social issue's political prioritization and priority setting.

methodsWe apply the Public Arenas Model to appraise the environments, definitions, competition dynamics, principles of selection and current actors involved in problem-solving and prioritizing adolescent pregnancy as a policy issue. Using a focused ethnographic approach, we undertook semi-structured interviews with 14 members of adolescent sexual reproductive health networks at the national level and conducted thematic analysis of the interviews.

findingsWe found that existing definitions center around adolescent pregnancy as a "disease" that needs prevention and treatment, socially deviant behaviour that requires individual agency, and a national social concern that drains public resources and therefore needs to be regulated. These competing definitions contribute to the rarity of the topic achieving traction within the political agenda and contribute to conflicting solutions, such as lowering the legal age of consenting to sex, while limiting access to contraceptive information and services to minors.

conclusionThis paper provides a timely theoretical approach to draw attention to the different competing definitions and subsequent divergent interpretations of the problem of adolescent pregnancy in Kenya. Adolescent reproductive health stakeholders need to be familiar with the existing definitions and deliberately reframe this important social problem for better political prioritization and resource allocation. We recommend a definition of adolescent pregnancy that cuts across different arenas, and leverages already existing dominant and concurrent social and economic issues that are already on the agenda table.

Indexed as

Models, TheoreticalPoliticsAdolescentFemaleHumansKenyaPregnancyPregnancy in Adolescence

Identifiers

PMID32925926
PMCPMC7489501
OpenAlexW3086155064

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.