Risk and Protective Factors Predictive of Adolescent Pregnancy: A Longitudinal, Prospective Study

Adolescent pregnancy and associated factors in South African youth

“…While previous research findings have suggested that individual factors and other predictors such as poverty, low educational level, contributed to young women engaging in risky sexual behaviour, leading to unplanned pregnancy in adolescents, 2,3,7,8,21 the findings of this study, showed that more than half of female respondents (74.1%) fell pregnant due to lack of knowledge, and 55% of respondents got pregnant because they did not understand the risks involved. However, what is equally a social concern is the fact that 71.2% of the female respondents did not understand how pregnancy happens or did not think about risks involved in engaging in unprotected sexual intercourse (which could explain the high number of unwanted pregnancies).…”

“…[1][2][3] In subSaharan Africa, one such risk factor in early child bearing is increased vulnerability to HIV/AIDS. While HIV is one of the unintended consequences of unprotected sexual intercourse, pregnancy is another indicator that young people are having unprotected sex.…”

Ecological Contexts in Adolescent Pregnancy: The Role of Individual, Sociodemographic, Familial and Relational Variables in Understanding Risk of Occurrence and Adjustment Patterns

“…The family appears to have a main role in the etiology of adolescent pregnancy since it exerts a central influence on other relational contexts and environmental factors (East et al 2006;Smith and Elander 2006). Most studies have found that adolescent pregnancy rates are higher among families with socioeconomic problems (Coley and Chase-Lansdale 1998;Garrett and Tidwell 1999), a non-nuclear, single parent or reconstructed structure (Ellis et al 2003;Miller et al 2005), low educational levels Pereira et al 2005), and a history of alcohol abuse (Haldre et al 2009) or adolescent parenthood (East et al 2006;Seamark and Gray 1997).…”

“…Most studies have found that adolescent pregnancy rates are higher among families with socioeconomic problems (Coley and Chase-Lansdale 1998;Garrett and Tidwell 1999), a non-nuclear, single parent or reconstructed structure (Ellis et al 2003;Miller et al 2005), low educational levels Pereira et al 2005), and a history of alcohol abuse (Haldre et al 2009) or adolescent parenthood (East et al 2006;Seamark and Gray 1997). Some studies also highlight the influence of early and current family interactions and dynamics, such as a family environment characterized by poor quality in parent-daughter relationships (Miller 2002); a lack of communication and/ or family instability; and inadequacy or lack of family supervision, support, affection and involvement (Kapungu et al 2006;Miller 2002;Scaramella et al 1998).…”

“…Given its importance relative to adolescent pregnancy occurrence and subsequent adjustment, the family system has emerged as a crucial context to understand and in which to intervene (Benson 2004;East et al 2006). As part of other spheres of the ecosystem (Bronfenbrenner 1979), family members influence and interact with each other in a circular and multidimensional process.…”