Adolescent Girls’ Attitudes Toward Pregnancy: The Importance of Asking What the Boyfriend Wants

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Original Research

Adolescent Girls’ Attitudes Toward Pregnancy: The Importance of Asking What the Boyfriend Wants

J Fam Pract. 2001 July;50(7):603-607

References

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Although several studies have been done on the contraceptive behavior of adolescent girls, to our knowledge no other studies have focused on evaluating the influence of the boyfriend’s perceived attitude toward childbearing on nonpregnant adolescent girls’ desire for a child. Our study did not support other studies’ findings showing that girls desiring pregnancy are more likely to have older boyfriends.²² In our study population, neither boyfriend age nor the age difference between the girl and her boyfriend were significantly associated with the girl’s desire to become pregnant.

Limitations

Our study has several limitations. We did not talk with the boyfriends themselves, but instead were limited to what the girls reported about their boyfriends. The girls’ perceptions of their boyfriends’ attitudes toward pregnancy may be more a reflection of the girls’ own desires. Also, we do not know what the girls really thought about pregnancy, only what they reported to us. It may be that more girls desired pregnancy, but were not willing to admit it. Our study did not use a previously validated questionnaire to determine “intendedness” of pregnancy. Because of the difficulty in ascribing motivations to adolescent behavior and reported attitudes, the entire concept of intendedness of pregnancy may not be relevant when discussing adolescent pregnancies.^18,23 However, the semistructured interview used in our study elicited a rich and detailed explanation of attitudes toward such topics as birth control, pregnancy, and influences of family and boyfriend.

Our study results may not be generalizable to other adolescent populations. Our study sample was from a mostly rural area, and the only minority group represented was Hispanic. The vast majority of girls visiting our community health center are from low socioeconomic groups. It is not clear that our results would be true for other ethnicities or for girls from higher socioeconomic levels.

Conclusions

A boyfriend’s desire for a baby is best predictor of an adolescent girl’s attitude toward pregnancy. The most effective interventions may be those that explore the extent to which a boyfriend’s attitude shapes a girl’s critical reproductive health decisions. Primary care providers should include boyfriends in any efforts to delay pregnancy in at-risk adolescent girls and should encourage greater dialogue between the girl and her partner with respect to contraceptive and childbearing decisions.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the following people for their assistance with this study: Kathy Beamis, for help with data collection; Sherry Holcomb, MS, and Debbi Main, PhD, for help with data analysis; the University of Colorado Primary Care Faculty Development Fellowship group, for review and suggestions.

Related resources

National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy http://www.teenpregnancy.org
National Organization on Adolescent Pregnancy, Parenting, and Prevention http://www.noappp.org
The Alan Guttmacher Institute Nonprofit organization focused on reproductive health research, policy analysis and public education. http://www.agi-usa.org
Advocates for Youth Programs designed to help young people make informed decisions about reproductive and sexual health. http://advocatesforyouth.org