Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Behavior in Indonesia: Internal and External Factors Influencing

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The reasons behind teenage pregnancy and marriage in Indonesia are the lack of life skills and low self-efficacy. Teenagers with a lack of life skills are more likely to be influenced by their peers, in this case, to have sex before marriage. Teenage pregnancy often leads to a high rate of maternal and infant mortality and high-risk infants.
 AIM: This study aimed to identify internal and external factors influencing adolescent pregnancy prevention behavior.
 METHODS: This quantitative study with a cross-sectional design recruited 398 adolescents using a multistage sampling technique. Chi-square test and logistic regression test were employed with p < 0.05.
 RESULTS: The odds ratio (OR) value from the exponent β with confidence interval 95%. More than half of respondents (64%) have behavior that might lead to teenage pregnancy, with both male and female respondents having equal risk (p = 0.920). Variables of knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy, life skills, and peer influence were associated with adolescent pregnancy prevention behavior as all of them have a p = 0.000. Moreover, peers were found to be the most influential variable of teenage pregnancy prevention behavior with the OR value of 3.84, the highest among other variables which meant adolescents receiving negative influence from their peers are 3.84 times more likely to conceive at a young age. Peers become the most dominant factor in determining adolescent behavior in preventing pregnancy.
 CONCLUSION: Among the variables related to prevention behavior, peers were found to be the one that will primarily determine adolescent behavior in terms of pregnancy prevention.

Efforts to Deal with the Impact of Adolescent Pregnancy through a Holistic Approach: A Literature Review

“…Studies have shown that adolescents have a higher rate of preterm labour compared to women of reproductive age (Exarchos et al, 2022). This increased risk of preterm birth among adolescents has been supported by several studies (Deswinda et al, 2020). Other risk factors such as low educational attainment, previous abortions, and previous preterm births have also been found to contribute to a higher incidence of preterm birth in teenage pregnancy (Nurdiawan et al, 2021).…”

“…The prevalence of teenage pregnancy in Indonesia is quite high compared to other developing countries, with prevalence rates ranging from 0.6% to 15.4% (Deswinda et al, 2020). In a study conducted in Indonesia, the prevalence of teenage pregnancy was found to be 10.05% (Nurdiawan et al, 2021).…”

“…Teenage pregnancy, occurring at the age of 15-19 years, is a global public health problem that harms both mother and baby. Incidence rates tend to be higher in developing countries (Deswinda et al, 2020;Indarti et al, 2020;Nurdiawan et al, 2021;Exarchos et al, 2022;Bitew et al, 2023). Teenage pregnancy is a complex social issue that is influenced by various factors such as education, environment, and cultural norms.…”

“…In developed countries, the main rates of teenage pregnancy are observed in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Eastern European countries (Bitew et al, 2023). Factors such as immigration, refugee status, living in humanitarian aid settlements, low socioeconomic status, low literacy rates, limited education, and disrupted family structures contribute to teenage pregnancy (Deswinda et al, 2020).In Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, the overall prevalence of teenage pregnancy is 18.8% and 19.3% respectively (Indarti et al, 2020).…”

Peer Education and Sexual Risk Behavior Among Adolescents: Does Urban Status Matter?

“…Risky sexual behavior is known as behavior carried out by adolescents consciously. Same sex or different sex of sexual desire was done without any consideration of any norms or applicable rules [4], [5]. Unfortunately, westernization much more influences Indonesian adolescents' reproductive health in the middle of cultural and social tradition, specifically its Islamic culture among society [6].…”