Shedding light on attitudes towards pregnancy among Inuit adolescents from Nunavik

Abstract

Better understanding attitudes toward pregnancy - a potent predictor of adolescent pregnancy - could help explain the high adolescent pregnancy rate in Nunavik, Canada. The objective of this study was to assess the distribution of different attitudes toward pregnancy and the factors associated with high pregnancy likelihood attitudes (HPLA; favourable, indifferent, and ambivalent), focusing on the perceived benefits of childbearing (BOC). T-tests, chi-square tests, and logistics regressions were performed based the answers of 159 Inuit women aged 16 to 20 years from the Qanuilirpitaa? survey. About 43% were ambivalent, 16% favourable, 5% indifferent, and 35% unfavourable toward pregnancy. Bivariate analysis indicate that the HPLA group was more likely to work, to report less frequent positive interactions, and to show a higher BOC score compared to others. Multivariate analysis show that an increased BOC score was associated with HPLA (OR = 1.09, 95% CI = 1.01 - 1.18). Perceiving that a baby would strengthen the relationship with the other parent (OR = 1.65, 95% CI = 1.15 - 2.37) and that it would help to access housing were individually associated with HPLA (OR = 1.45, 95% CI = 1.02 - 2.10). Findings provide evidence to support Inuit adolescents' reproductive choices.

Keywords: Attitudes toward pregnancy; Inuit; adolescent pregnancy; ambivalence; benefits of childbearing.