A critique of tertiary prevention with adolescent mothers: rehabilitation after the first pregnancy

Abstract

Studies of tertiary prevention programs require complex research designs to yield the most useful data on their effectiveness because of the nature and number of complex situations that pregnant adolescents and mothers face in their lives. Comprehensive intervention designs derived from theory are particularly needed. We are in an early phase of conducting state-of-the-art tertiary prevention research and must continue to strive ahead with our efforts to systematically address the multiple-risk factors that predict poor parenting, educational, and social outcomes in pregnant and parenting adolescents.