Predictive Ability and Stability of Adolescents’ Pregnancy Intentions in a Predominantly Latino Community

Abstract

Using data from a prospective cohort of 555 adolescent girls and boys from a predominantly Latino neighborhood of San Francisco, we examined how well four survey questionnaire items measuring pregnancy intentions predicted the incidence of pregnancy. We also compared consistency of responses among items and assessed how intentions fluctuated over time. Girls experienced 72 pregnancies over two years (six-month cumulative incidence = 8 percent), and boys reported being responsible for 50 pregnancies (six-month cumulative incidence = 10 percent). Although the probability of becoming pregnant generally increased with higher intention to do so, the risk of becoming pregnant was elevated only at the highest response categories for each item. Most pregnancies occurred among teenagers reporting the lowest levels of intention: for instance, 73 percent of pregnancies occurred among girls who reported that they definitely did not want to become pregnant. Considerable change in respondents’ intentions were found over short periods of time: 18 percent and 41 percent of responses to the wantedness and happiness items, respectively, changed between six-month survey visits. The development of appropriate strategies to reduce pregnancy among adolescents would benefit from a more nuanced understanding of how teenagers view the prospect of pregnancy and what determines whether they actively protect themselves from unintended pregnancy.

Provision of Family Planning to Women With Cardiovascular Risk Factors

“…This raises the question of how often family planning should occur; our data cannot capture whether a patient received counseling at an earlier visit or received counseling at least once in the past 12 months. While further research is needed to determine the optimal frequency of family planning, a patient's intentions to have children may change from one visit to the next, 40 and the low frequency of family planning actions in our study demonstrates that more attention needs to be dedicated to addressing the preconception needs of reproductive-aged women. While regularly assessing pregnancy intention may seem daunting to the busy PCP, pregnancy intention may represent a "teachable moment" for chronic disease self-management-an opportunity to capitalize on the patient's motivation for a healthy child and educate her on adopting healthy behaviors.…”

Factors Associated With Being Pleased With a Female Partner Pregnancy Among Sexually Active U.S. Adolescent Males

“…Most of the emphasis on pregnancy prevention has been placed on adolescent females, however, and involving adolescent males in pregnancy prevention has recently been a priority. The latter is essential, given that boyfriends' desires about a pregnancy were associated with adolescent females' desires about pregnancy (Cowley & Farley, 2001;Davies et al, 2003) and an adolescent pregnancy (Crosby, DiClemente, Wingood, Harrington, & Davies, 2002;Rocca, 2010); and happiness about impregnating a current partner in adolescent males are associated with impregnating a female partner within 2 years (Rocca, 2010). For some adolescent males, especially those that are poor, self-esteem can be derived from fatherhood as seen in one study (Marsiglio, 1993).…”

“…Given that adolescent males' attitudes toward a pregnancy are associated with impregnating a female partner (Rocca, 2010), additional research is needed to identify factors associated with adolescent males' attitudes regarding a female partner pregnancy. Social ecological theory (Concoran, 1999), in which factors from multiple domains (individual, peer/partner, family, etc.)…”

Homies with Aspirations and Positive Peer Network Ties: Associations with Reduced Frequent Substance Use among Gang-Affiliated Latino Youth

“…At the end of 2006, the City Attorney initiated a controversial civil gang injunction creating "safety zones" against five of San Francisco's street gangs. 38 The "Norteño Safety Zone" encompasses a large section of the southeast portion of the Mission and includes several public schools and parks. Local youth agencies and cultural centers remain active in advocating for marginalized youth and families who contend with barriers related to housing instability, immigration status, and criminal justice involvement.…”