Adolescent pregnancy: contributing factors, consequences, treatment, and plausible solutions

Abstract

Adolescence, although not always necessarily a period of extreme stress, is a time of profound physical changes which increase the adolescent's awareness of and interest in sexual behavior. This issue of sexuality, which begins in early adolescence, creates new challenges to personal and gender identity formation as the person matures. Sexual maturation is a three-fold process, requiring growth in understanding of oneself as a sexual being, in the ability to handle interpersonal relationships effectively, and in the capacity to plan behavior in view of future outcomes and present problems. A current concern is that today's adolescents, including early adolescents, may be making important life choices such as parenthood before they are developmentally ready for such roles (Chilman, 1980). This paper deals with pregnancy in adolescents and modes of responding to this phenomenon by those in the counseling and other helping professions.

PIP: Adolescence is a time of profound physical changes increasing the adolescent's awareness of and interest in sexual behavior. School age pregnant women represent all races, faiths, socioeconomic statuses, and regions. Partners are usually close in age and background and studies challenge stereotypes of uncaring uninvolved young fathers. 1,000,000 yearly teenage pregnancies yield only 40,000 adoptions and fewer than 1/2 of the remainder are born to married couples. Abortion is less popular in younger teens, indicating a falling rate. Societal effects include replacing of old sex roles and norms with new ones such as fredom, self actualization, and parental emancipation combined with economic adulthood postponed by the skills demands of the industrial society. Lower income girls often use pregnancy to cope with fatalism or alienation. Ignorance of birth control and sexual matters is a characteristic of most pregnancies. Most contraceptive methods are inappropriate for adolescents, either for difficulty of acquisition or usage. Adolescent pregnancy can have serious physical consequences as high maternal and infant mortality rates and low child intelligence quotients indicate. Adolescent single mothers are likely to be poor and to sacrifice education. Isolation, unstable marriages, stress, and guilt are among many social/psychological problems. Some solutions include needs-oriented sex and family life education and family planning services. Group therapy to reduce stress in pregnant adolescents profits from peer counselling. Job placement helps young fathers. Individual counselling, especially through the schools, has been shown to be effective, with female counselors being most appropriate for female adolescents. Combined interventions, bold and possibly controversial action will be necessary to counter this serious problem.