Associations of Adolescent Hopelessness and Self-Worth With Pregnancy Attempts and Pregnancy Desire

Fedorowicz, Anna; Hellerstedt, Wendy L.; Schreiner, Pamela J.; Bolland, John M.

doi:10.2105/ajph.2014.301914

Cited by 20 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…Children were viewed as a blessing and a source of happiness even though the economic reality of another child would constitute a substantial burden. Recent research among adolescent populations has suggested that attitudes towards pregnancy are strongly linked to the view of motherhood as one’s main source of personal satisfaction or achievement (Fedorowicz et al, 2014), a concept that may also be applicable here.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A blessing I can't afford: Factors underlying the paradox of happiness about unintended pregnancy

Aiken

Dillaway

Mevs-Korff

2015

Social Science & Medicine

115

110

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An unresolved paradox in the measurement and interpretation of unintended pregnancy is that women frequently report feeling happy about pregnancies they also classify as unintended (i.e. they have incongruent intentions and feelings). This study explores the underlying reasons why women profess such happiness and how these relate to their motivations to avoid pregnancy. Between September 2013 and February 2014, semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 27 women (8 white, 19 Latina) selected from a longitudinal study measuring prospective pregnancy intentions and feelings among 403 women in Austin, Texas. Women were selected for interview on the basis of wanting no more children and consistently professing either happiness (n=17) or unhappiness (n=10) at the prospect of pregnancy. Interviews were coded and analyzed following the principles of grounded theory. We found that it is possible for women to express happiness at the idea of pregnancy while simultaneously earnestly trying to prevent conception. Happiness at the idea of an unintended pregnancy was explained as the result of deep and heartfelt feelings about children taking precedence over practical considerations, the perception that the psychosocial stress resulting from another child would be low, and the ability to rationalize an unintended pregnancy as the result of fate or God’s plan. The major exception to the sincerity of professed happiness was that conveyed as a result of social pressure despite truly negative feelings, predominantly expressed by foreign-born Latina women. Overall, equating incongruence with ambivalence about avoiding conception may undermine the sincerity of women’s intentions and their desires for highly-effective contraception. At the same time, unintended pregnancies that are greeted with happiness may have different implications for maternal and child health outcomes compared to pregnancies that are greeted with unhappiness. Identifying which unintended pregnancies are most likely to result in adverse outcomes is a target for future research.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A blessing I can't afford: Factors underlying the paradox of happiness about unintended pregnancy

Aiken

Dillaway

Mevs-Korff

2015

Social Science & Medicine

115

110

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…5 Young people who feel hopeless about their future are more likely to engage in behaviors that put them at risk of HIV, STDs, and pregnancy. 31,32 Suicide risk, measured here by increasing levels of suicide ideation and action, not only places the life of the adolescent at risk but is also a marker for experience of trauma and mental health issues. 33 • The percentage of high school students who felt sad or hopeless almost every day for two weeks or more in the past year.…”

Section: Mental Health and Suicidementioning

confidence: 99%

Sexual Behavior and Contraceptive and Condom Use Among U.S. High School Students, 2013‒2017

Witwer¹,

Jones²,

Lindberg³

2018

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“…Hopelessness is a transdiagnostic psychological construct that emerges in adolescence and is characterized by rigid and persistently negative expectations about the future and helplessness to change future outcomes (Abramson et al 1989; Beck et al 1974). Hopelessness is associated with psychopathology and high–risk behaviors (Beck et al 1974), including more severe depressive symptoms (Becker-Weidman et al 2009), first onset of a major depressive episode (Mac Giollabhui et al 2017), suicidal ideation (Ayub 2009; Beck et al 1990; Daniel and Goldston 2012; Horwitz et al 2017; Kwok et al 2010), substance use (Bolland 2003), risky sexual behavior (Fedorowicz et al 2014), and increased likelihood to engage in violence (Drummond et al 2011; Stoddard, Henly, et al 2011). Despite its implication in multiple forms of psychopathology, there are limited data characterizing trajectories of hopelessness in community samples of adolescents.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Development of Future Orientation is Associated with Faster Decline in Hopelessness during Adolescence

Giollabhui

Nielsen

Seidman

et al. 2018

J Youth Adolescence

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Hopelessness is implicated in multiple psychological disorders. Little is known, however, about the trajectory of hopelessness during adolescence or how emergent future orientation may influence its trajectory. Parallel process latent growth curve modelling tested whether (i) trajectories of future orientation and hopelessness and (ii) within-individual change in future orientation and hopelessness were related. The study was comprised of 472 adolescents [52% female, 47% Caucasian, 47% received free lunch] recruited at ages 12-13 who completed measures of future orientation and hopelessness at five annual assessments. The results indicate that a general decline in hopelessness across adolescence occurs quicker for those experiencing faster development of future orientation, when controlling for age, sex, low socio-economic status in addition to stressful life events in childhood and adolescence. Stressful childhood life events were associated with worse future orientation at baseline and negative life events experienced during adolescence were associated with both an increase in the trajectory of hopelessness as well as a decrease in the trajectory of future orientation. This study provides compelling evidence that the development of future orientation during adolescence is associated with a faster decline in hopelessness.

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Associations of Adolescent Hopelessness and Self-Worth With Pregnancy Attempts and Pregnancy Desire

Cited by 20 publications

References 60 publications

A blessing I can't afford: Factors underlying the paradox of happiness about unintended pregnancy

A blessing I can't afford: Factors underlying the paradox of happiness about unintended pregnancy

Sexual Behavior and Contraceptive and Condom Use Among U.S. High School Students, 2013‒2017

The Development of Future Orientation is Associated with Faster Decline in Hopelessness during Adolescence

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