COGNITIVE, PSYCHOSOCIAL, AND REPORTED SEXUAL-BEHAVIOR DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PREGNANT AND NONPREGNANT ADOLESCENTS

A wide variety of variables have been related to the occurrence of ado lescent pregnancy. However, many previous studies have produced confli cting results and are univariate in nature. The purpose of this study was to assess differences in pregnant and nonpregnant adolescents on v ariables from three domains: cognitive, psychosocial, and reported sex ual behavior. Sixty-nine pregnant adolescents and 58 comparison adoles cents filled out nine questionnaires presented on microcomputers. Sign ificant differences were found on 10 of 24 univariate tests. The stron gest differences concerned areas of scholastic functioning and reporte d sexual behavior; pregnant teenagers were more likely than nonpregnan t peers to be doing poorly in school and less likely to use contracept ives. In addition, pregnant teenagers were more likely to have a relat ive or friend who was an adolescent mother and to expect child rearing to be easier than did the nonpregnant adolescents. A discriminant ana lysis was computed which correctly classified 83% of the sample, based on variables from each of the three domains. This study has served to replicate, refute, and expand on previous findings concerning the ant ecedents of teenage pregnancy. More importantly, this study has empiri cally demonstrated the multivariate and interrelated nature of variabl es associated with teenage pregnancy.