TRANSITIONS TO ADULTHOOD
Very Young Adolescents

Investing When It Counts: Generating the Evidence Base for Policies and Programmes for Very Young Adolescents

Over half a billion very young adolescents (those aged 10–14 years) in developing countries are undergoing dramatic transitions that will shape the rest of their lives. They are dropping out of school, entering the work force, engaging in sexual activity for the first time, and migrating to new areas away from their friends and family, yet remarkably little is known about the factors that contribute to their social and economic vulnerability and poor health outcomes. Information about schooling and general well-being has long been collected on very young adolescents (VYAs), but most researchers have shied away from covering sensitive topics, either because of social norms concerning age-appropriate behaviors, ethical concerns regarding potentially harmful effects of the research, or doubts about the validity of the responses of VYAs. Typically, 15-year-olds are the youngest adolescents included in national demographic and health surveys and seroprevalence studies.

Beginning with an international meeting on VYAs convened in 2003 by several UN agencies, concern has grown over the dearth of data that exists on VYAs, and the lack of experience to draw on about the tools and methodologies that are best suited for collecting information from this group. In an effort to propel the field forward, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Population Council convened a consultative meeting in 2005 focused on research issues and methods, bringing together experts in the adolescent field who either were currently engaged in or planning to conduct research on very young adolescents. "Investing when it counts" is a result of the discussions and deliberations engendered by the meeting. (meeting agenda)

The methodologies described in the guide are useful primarily for discovering which VYAs are most vulnerable, what their needs are, and whether they are being reached by existing programs. Furthermore, this guide:

• considers the cognitive and developmental changes that occur during early adolescence and how these might affect the design of a research study;

• reviews the ethical issues to be considered before research with VYAs is conducted;

• explores the breadth and limitations of information that can be gleaned from existing data sets such as the Demographic and Health Surveys;

• summarizes a broad range of research methodologies that either have already been tested with younger adolescents or might reasonably be expected to be feasible, discusses their advantages and limitations, and includes research results obtained by using them; and

• provides illustrative prototype tools and basic instructions on how to use them.

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This page updated 26 June 2008

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