PERCEPTIONS OF PREGNANT PARENTING TEENS - REFRAMING ISSUES FOR AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO PREGNANCY PROBLEMS

Indisputably, unplanned teen pregnancies have myriad personal, family, and social consequences, but answers to questions surrounding this ph enomenon are far less obvious. The purpose of this investigation was t o determine correlations, if any, between personal, family, and educat ional background factors and unplanned teen pregnancy. An anonymous qu estionnaire was administered to 341 volunteer respondents in 14 Teenag e Pregnancy/Parenting Programs (TAPPS). Significant differences among respondents were related to family relationships, race/ethnicity, and sexuality education. These findings provide valuable information for f amily science researchers, family life educators, health personnel, po licymakers, and parents who wish to ameliorate the problems in teen pr egnancy/parenting by reframing issues for a more integrated approach i nvolving both prevention and intervention.