A prospective study of adolescent pregnancy

doi:10.1006/jado.2000.0329

Journal of Adolescence

Volume 23, Issue 4, August 2000, Pages 423-438

https://doi.org/10.1006/jado.2000.0329 Get rights and content

Abstract

This study examined prospectively the characteristics contributing to adolescent pregnancy in a pregnant (n=452) and comparison (n=373) group of adolescents. The participants were 15–19-year-old Black and White females in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. The variables included race, self-esteem, age-related risks, delinquency history, aspirations and expectations Using regression analyses, adolescent pregnancy in Blacks was predicted by approval of delaying a family and pursuing a career, aspirations of working, and lower educational expectations. Pregnancy in White adolescents was predicted by higher educational wishes, lower educational expectations, desiring more children, and having sex younger. Implications and recommendations are discussed.

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Cited by (47)

Clusters of Markers Identify High and Low Prevalence of Adolescent Pregnancy in the US
2013, Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology
Citation Excerpt :
In our analysis, adolescent females who ever HIV tested, never lived away from home before 18 years old, were >17 years old, were 15-16 years old at sexual debut, and had a father who was not a high-school graduate had a 75% PP. Published research is conflicting regarding the association between paternal education and adolescent pregnancy.6,20,47 Our study is the first (to our knowledge) to reveal that low paternal educational attainment has the greatest impact on an adolescent pregnancy for older adolescent females with a sexual debut at 15-16 years old.
To identify markers that, when clustered, are associated with the highest and lowest pregnancy prevalence among US adolescent females.
Secondary database analysis of the National Survey of Family Growth.
Adolescent females 15–19 years old.
United States.
Bivariate analyses were performed of the 2002 and 2006-08 cycles to identify markers associated with pregnancy in females 15–19 years old. Recursive partitioning analysis (RPA) was done to identify markers which, when combined, identify adolescent females with the highest and lowest pregnancy prevalence.
Pregnancy prevalence in 2,528 adolescent females was 14%. In RPA, females who ever HIV tested had a 48% pregnancy prevalence vs 4% in those never tested. The highest pregnancy prevalence (78%) was associated with the combination of ever HIV tested, never lived away from parents before 18 years old, age >17 years old, and age of sexual debut ≤14 years old. Adolescent females with a combination of ever HIV tested, never lived away from parents before 18 years old, age >17 years old, age of sexual debut at 15–16 years old, and the adolescent's father not having a high-school diploma had a pregnancy prevalence of 75%.
Two clusters of markers yield adolescent females with a very high adolescent pregnancy prevalence, at 75%–78%. Pregnancy prevention efforts might be especially effective when targeting combinations of HIV-testing history, never living away from home before 18 years old, adolescent age, age of sexual debut, and paternal educational attainment.
Some (But Not Much) Progress Toward Understanding Teenage Childbearing. A Review of Research from the Past Decade
2012, Advances in Child Development and Behavior
Citation Excerpt :
The multiple-risk group of pregnant teenagers who were exposed to maltreatment in childhood also displayed a pattern of conduct disorder behaviors (Romano, Zoccolillo, & Paquette, 2006). Similarly, a prospective study using at nationally representative sample of teenagers found that conduct problems (e.g., delinquent activity, alcohol use) preceded teen pregnancy (Hockaday et al., 2000). These studies provide evidence that conduct problems may precede or co-occur with teenage pregnancy and childbirth, suggesting that some young women who become teen mothers may be at higher risk for problem behaviors during adolescence.
In the decade and a half since Coley and Chase-Lansdale's (1998) review of teenage childbearing, there have been a number of studies investigating teenage childbearing from a developmental psychological perspective. Many of these studies have focused primarily on identifying individual, familial, and socioeconomic risk factors in childhood and adolescence that are highly correlated with teenage sexual behavior and teenage childbearing. We have an emerging understanding of teenage childbearing as the culmination of a complex cascade of experiences and decisions that overlap greatly with the risks for antisocial behavior. Much of this research, however, is limited by its reliance on correlational and cross-sectional research designs, which are not able to rigorously test causal inferences or to identify mechanisms associated with teenage childbearing. Innovative studies using large, nationally representative samples with quasi-experimental and longitudinal designs can expand on such descriptive studies. In particular, quasi-experimental studies can help answer questions about which risk factors are causally associated with teenage childbearing and suggest potential mechanisms that can explain how teenage childbearing is associated with poor outcomes. Future studies also will need to incorporate more precise measures of developmental processes and explore heterogeneity among adolescent mothers. Although advances have been made in the psychological study of teenage childbearing, more research is needed in order to answer important questions about which psychological processes are causally related to teenage childbearing and how teenage childbearing is associated with poor outcomes for young mothers and their offspring.
Meanings of sexual intercourse for Italian adolescents
2009, Journal of Adolescence
The goal of the present study was to investigate meanings of sexual intercourse in adolescence, and the relationships between meanings, gender, age, and sexual behaviors. Subjects were 201 Italian adolescents (107 boys and 94 girls), aged 14–19 (M = 17.44, SD = 1.65). Participants completed a battery of questionnaires on meanings of sex, sexual activity and other risk behaviors. Using confirmatory factor analyses and ANOVAs, we found:
- (1)
  four dimensions of meanings of sexual intercourse: negative social, personal, transgressional, and positive social meanings;
- (2)
  females scored much lower on all four dimensions;
- (3)
  negative social meanings were related to a lack of protection in sexual intercourse, whereas trangressional meanings were related to lack of protection at the first sexual intercourse only.
Our findings suggest a similarity between meanings of sexual intercourse and meanings of others risk behaviors, including smoking. This similarity should be taken into account in prevention against health-risk behaviors in youth.
Teenage pregnancy: Predictors of health and well being in a Brazilian sample
2007, Psiquiatria Biologica
El embarazo en la adolescencia es un fenómeno con importantes implicaciones sociales y personales y puede tener consecuencias en la salud de las jóvenes que viven esta experiencia. La presente investigación tuvo por objetivo evaluar los predictores de salud y bienestar de adolescentes embarazadas.
El trabajo se desarrolló a partir de un enfoque cuantitativo, con una muestra de 100 adolescentes, entre el tercero y el noveno mes del embarazo, que realizaban consultas prenatales en hospitales de la red pública de Porto Alegre (Brasil).
Los datos fueron recogidos a través de un cuestionario biodemográfico y del Cuestionario General de Salud (GHQ), que se aplicó individualmente, mientras las adolescentes esperaban ser atendidas en la consulta ginecológica.
El análisis de los resultados se realizó mediante un análisis descriptivo y análisis de regresión múltiple. Las pruebas indicaron que las adolescentes presentaban una percepción positiva de su salud durante el embarazo y que haber abortado y la edad gestacional fueron significativos predictores de la salud de las embarazadas y algunos de sus factores.
A partir del estudio, se puede concluir que la percepción de salud de las participantes está más relacionada con los aspectos biológicos del embarazo que con los sociales.
The phenomenon of teenage pregnancy has important social and personal implications and can affect the health of these young women. The aim of the present study was to evaluate predictors of health and well being in pregnant adolescents.
We performed a quantitative study in a sample of 100 adolescents between the third and ninth month of pregnancy who attended prenatal care in public hospitals in Porto Alegre (Brazil). Data were collected using a questionnaire for bio-demographic variables and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). The questionnaires were applied individually in the waiting room, before gynecological consultation.
The results were evaluated through descriptive and multiple regression analyses. Adolescents had a positive perception of their health during pregnancy. Significant predictors associated with health and health-related factors were having had an abortion and gestational period.
The results of this study suggest that the health of pregnant adolescents is more closely related to biological than to social aspects of pregnancy.
Gender Differences in Motivational Pathways to College for Middle Class African American Youths
2011, Developmental Psychology
Life expectations in early adolescence and the timing of first sex and marriage: evidence from a longitudinal survey in Ethiopia
2022, Reproductive Health

View all citing articles on Scopus

^f1: Reprint requests and correspondence should be addressed to: Cathy Hockaday, 1086 Le Baron, Iowa State University, Ames IA 50011, U.S.A.

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Regular ArticleA prospective study of adolescent pregnancy

Abstract

Developmental Review

Journal of Experimental Child Psychology

Children and Youth Services Review

Understanding attitudes and predicting social behavior

Sex and America's teenagers

Forming a family, leaving school early, and earning a GED: A racial and cohort comparison

Journal of Marriage and the Family

The influence of parenting style on adolescent competence and substance use

Journal of Early Adolescence

Social and behavioral factors associated with high-risk sexual behavior among adolescents

Journal of Behavioral Medicine

Influence of attitudes, significant others, and aspirations on how adolescents intend to resolve a premarital pregnancy

Journal of Marriage and the Family

The nature and support of adolescent mothers' life aspirations

Family Relations

NLS Handbook: The National Longitudinal Surveys of Labor Market Experience

Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report

Pregnant and parenting teens: A picture over time

Psychosocial development and the social problem of teenage illegitimacy

Structure of problem behavior in adolescence and young adulthood

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

Adolescent health behavior and conventionality-unconventionality: An extension of Problem-Behavior Theory

Health Psychology

Racial and ethnic differences in girls' sexual, marital, and birth expectations

Journal of Marriage and the Family

Self-concept of pregnant adolescents: A case study

Journal of Humanistic Education and Development

The significance of aspirations among unmarried adolescent mothers

Social Service Review

As the pendulum swings: Teenage childbearing and social concern

Family Relations

Teenage childbearing and culturing rationality: A thesis in search of evidence

Family Relations

Adolescent fertility and public policy

American Psychologist

Race differences in the timing of adolescent intercourse

American Sociological Review

Welfare benefits, economic opportunities, and out-of-wedlock births among Black teenage girls

Demography

Teenage childbearing and social reproductive disadvantage: The evolution of complex questions and the demise of simple answers

Family Relations

Regular Article
A prospective study of adolescent pregnancy