Teenage pregnancy is one of the most difficult challenges that a young person can face. I never fully realized the struggles that teenage parents face until my cousin became pregnant at age eighteen. As a college student, she had to balance school, work, and childcare; a task that most adults find difficult. Seeing her struggles, I began to notice the serious financial, emotional, and physical costs of raising at child at such a young age. In this study, I explore the many resources available to teens that educate them on pregnancy and prevention, with a focus on the impact of the internet. I began by researching sites such as www.plannedparenthood.org, www.thenationalcampaign.org, and www.teenpregnancy.com. I then discovered that with the rise of the internet, teen birth rates in the United States reached a record low. Was this a coincidence? How does the internet effect teen birth rates? Can increased access to the internet in developing countries result in lower teen birth rates?These are the sorts of questions I hope to answer in my study.
1. Allen, Joseph P., Susan Philliber, Scott Herrlin, and Gabriel P. Kuperminc. “Preventing teen Pregnancy and Academic Failure: Experimental Evaluation of a Developmentally Based Approach.” Child Development 68.4 (2008): 729-742. 26 January 2009CRETRY=1&SRETR=0>.
Summary – This article evaluates an experiment done by the volunteer program Teen Outreach that was created to prevent teens from becoming pregnant and failing school. They attempted to do this by helping the teens develop socially in ways not normally fostered by a high school environment. The results of the study show that intervention and problem prevention techniques are useful in lower teen pregnancy rates and school failure rates in teens in the program.
2. Olausson, Petra Otterblad, Sven Cnattingius, and Bengt Haglund. “Teenage pregnancies and risk of late fetal death and infant mortality.” BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology. 106.2 (19 Aug 2005): 116-121. 26 Jan 2009 <http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119087862/abstract>.
Summary – The goal of this study was to discover what effect teenage pregnancy had on late fetal death and infant mortality rates. The study was conducted using records gathered from medical birth registries. The results of the study found that the risk of late fetal death and infant mortality rates to be higher in teenage pregnancies than in adult pregnancies, which is a direct result of teens being at a higher risk for preterm births. The study also purported that late fetal death and infant mortality rates may by linked to teenagers not being biologically mature enough to sustain a pregnancy.
3. Dillard, K. Denise, and Louis G. Pol. “The Individual Economic Costs of Teenage Childbearing.” Family Relations. 31.2 (April 1982): 249-259. 26 January 2009 <http://0csaweb105v.csa.com.sculib.scu.edu/ids70/view_record.php?id=3&recnum=5&log=from_res&SID=v5pi2e1c88ve3p87jp41kojt62&mark_id=search%3A3%3A2%2C0%2C6>.
Summary – This article estimates the economic costs that teenage parents have to face when raising children. Using multiple sources, the authors found the average educational loss as a result of teen pregnancy, average income for women in terms of education, anticipated loss of income due to lack of education, and costs of raising a child. The study concluded that the cost to raise a child born to teenage parents is more than the cost to raise a child born to older parents.
4. Bailey Mollborn, Stefanie. “Understanding teenage pregnancy norms and theirInfluence on teenage mothers’ and fathers’ life outcomes.” Dissertation Abstracts International, A: The Humanities and Social Sciences. 67.5 (Nov. 2006): 1930. 26 January 2009 <http://0csaweb105v.csa.com.sculib.scu.edu/ids70/view_record.php?id =13&recnum=11&log=from_res&SID=v5pi2e1c88ve3p87jp41kojt62&mark_id=search%3A13%3A46%2C10%2C20>.
Summary – This article uses survey data from life transition norms, race, and gender to analyze teenage parents. The author finds that teenage parents face worse socioeconomic outcomes than older parents because they violate social norms that discourage teenage pregnancy. The author purposes that this could be a result of the theory that families who have negative views against teen pregnancy are less likely to provide much needed resources for the teenage parent. The author indicates that these social norms differ according to race, ethnicity, and economic status. The author concludes by focusing on resources and solutions for problems that are faced by teenage parents.
5. McCord J. “Some child-rearing antecedents of criminal behavior in adult men.” J Pers Soc Psychol. 37.9 (Sept. 1979): 1477-86. 26 January 2009 <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/501519>.
Summary – This article uses records obtained during childhood about the childhood environments of 201 men and records obtained thirty years later that show criminal behavior. The author concludes that there are six variables, or antecedents, that impact the potential for criminal behavior in men. They are mother’s self-confidence, father’s deviance, parental aggressiveness, maternal affection, parental conflict, and supervision.
Summary - This article, by thenationalcampaign.org, analyzes and compares the methods and results of many different programs created to prevent teenage pregnancy. The study focuses on the use of condoms and promoting the message of abstinence in order to cut down on teen birth rates. This article shows that programs intended to reduce the number of teen pregnancies are quite effective.
Summary - This article offers many charts and statistics concerning the recent trends in teen birth rates in the U.S. It reports that teen pregnancy rates are at an all time low and that they have been declining ever since before the year 2000. The study also tracks infant mortality rates and abortions
Summary - This study analyzes the effectiveness of sex education information on the internet, including, contraception and alternative options. The study uses various research to show that accurate and valuable information concerning sex and sex education can be found on the internet, but a good amount of searching and technological prowess is helpful.
9. Frost, Jennifer J., and Jacqueline Darroch Forrest. "Understanding the Impact of Effective Teenage Pregnancy Prevention Programs." Family Planning Perspectives, Vol. 27, No. 5 (Sep. - Oct., 1995), pp. 188-195 .
Summary - This article examines the effectiveness of five different teen pregnanch prevention programs. The study stated that programs were successful if they reduced rates of sexual activity in teens and increased thier use of contraception. The study found that the most successful programs offered access to contraceptives and was geared towards younger teens. Easy access to contraception seems to be the major factor in lowering teen pregnancy rates.
10. Baldwin, Wendy and Virginia S. Cain. "The Children of Teenage Parents." Family Planning Perspectives Vol. 12, No. 1 (Jan. - Feb., 1980), pp. 34-43
Summary - This article examines how children born to teenage parents are effected physically, emotionally, and socially. The study shows that children born to teenage parents usually lack family structure, develop learning problems, and are more likely to become teenage parents themselves. The authors back their claims with a wide range of data and research.
Throughout the course of my study, I relied mainly on quantitative data. My primary focus was on archival data. I began by researching sites concerning teen pregnancy and prevention. Sites such as www.plannedparenthoodorg, www.thenationalcampaign.org, and http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_ATSRH.html were useful in collecting statistics and facts about teen birth rates and prevention methods, but they were aimed more towards parents and adults.Next, I narrowed my search to sites that are more teen-friendly and are more likely to grab a young person’s attention. I discovered www.stayteen.org, a flashy teen pregnancy site that presents useful information about prevention, relationships, and pregnancy in a simple, user-friendly fashion.
I then searched forums and discussion posts that involved teen pregnancy. I primarily used http://ehealthforum.com/health/teen_pregnancy.html, a teen pregnancy forum, to determine what sites most help teens deal with teenage pregnancy and prevention. I also used this forum to learn some common questions teens are asking about pregnancy, sex, children, etc.
Finally, I used the information that I gathered from the teen pregnancy forum to create a page that contains information to help teens deal with and answer, what I found to be, the most common questions about pregnancy, sex, childcare, etc (such as "How does the adoption process work?", "How effective is birth control?", "What are my abortion options?", etc.). I accomplished this task by incorporating the archival information that I collected from sites such as www.teenpregnancy.com and www.plannedparenthood.com. In addition, I researched the rise of the internet in America from 1995-2006 and the decline of teen birth rates in America from 1940-2006. I used this data to support my point that increased access to the internet in America resulted in a decline in birth rates.
Ethics
The archival data I collected was publicly accessible, so I did not have to obtain consent concerning its use. As such, no special steps were needed to respect anonymity. I did not engage with individuals in my primary research, such as interviews or questionnaires, therefore informed consent was not needed. In regards to the internet forum I researched at ehealthforum.com, I did not reference any names or information from the site, so I did not have to use pseudonyms to protect anonymity.
