Citation

Phipps-Yonas S. Am. J. Orthopsychiatry 1980; 50(3): 403-431.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1980, American Orthopsychiatric Association, Publisher Wiley Blackwell)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

7406027

Abstract

Literature on teenage pregnancy and motherhood was reviewed. Studies indicated that the incidence of teenage pregnancy in the U.S. was high and that it was continually increasing. Recent medical studies revealed that teenage pregnancy was associated with a high rate of complications only if prenatal care and maternal diet were inadequate and if the mother was less than 15 years of age. Investigators who have attempted to identify the typical high pregnancy risk teenager have been unable to do so. Approximately 1/3 of all teenage pregnancies were terminated by abortion. Teenagers who had abortions tended to have higher educational and career goals and came from higher socioeconomic classes than teenagers who choose to continue their pregnancies. Teenagers who continued their pregnancies tended to come from less supportive families. Many teenagers failed to use contraception because they thought it would appear as if they were planning to engage in sexual behavior. A large proportion of teenage males displayed little interest in providing pregnancy protection for their girlfriends and assumed it was the girls problem if she became pregnant. Early child bearing tended to reduce educational and job opportunities for most girls. Teenage girls were less likely to give up their babies for adoption than in the past. Children raised by teenage mothers, compared to those raised by adults, tended 1) to have a higher risk of child abuse and 2) to develop at a slower rate both mentally and physically. Program and policy implications of these findings were 1) sex education should be introduced at an earlier grade level; 2) small discussion group teaching techniques should be used; 3) parenting techniques should be taught in sex education programs; 4) contraceptives should be made more readily available to teenagers; 5) male teenagers should be encouraged to play a more active role in contraception; and 6) funding of preventive an intervention programs must be increased.

Language: en