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| Contributing Factors: Adolescent Pregnancy |
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| Identifying factors that contribute to high pregnancy rates is important for policy and program development to reduce pregnancy rates. For example a study by Roosa, Tein, Reinholtz and Angelini (1997), examined the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and teenage pregnancy. The study found childhood sexual abuse was a minor contributing factor to teenage pregnancy. However adolescents under sixteen who were sexually active, and not using contraceptives were at greater risk of becoming pregnant. The study involved collecting data from a cohort of 2,003 young women, to determine if sexual histories involving child sexual abuse contributed to teenage pregnancy (Roosa et al, 1997).
The findings showed that approximately a third of the women identified their partners as main perpetrators of sexual abuse (33%), followed by friends (29%) and family members (25%). More than 88% of the women had experienced sexual intercourse by the time they were sixteen, and 26% had become pregnant by the time they were eighteen years of age. Some of the risks factors associated with childhood sexual abuse included low socio-economic status, unhealthy family environment such as physical abuse, and family disruption (Roosa et al, 1997). An Australian research project conducted by a Young Parents program, found that most of the young mothers involved in the project had experienced various forms of child abuse, such as emotional abuse, physical abuse, financial abuse and sexual abuse (Healy, 1995). The study found that young mothers were particularly vulnerable to abuse, and many of the women had experienced homelessness (Healy, 1995).
Studies by Allan Guttmacher Institute (1994), Rushtom and Bogaert (1988) showed that race was also a contributing factor. Ethnicity was strongly related to teenage pregnancy compared with social class (Roosa et al, 1997). Also adolescents who engaged in high risk behaviours such as smoking, drugs and alcohol were considered more likely to be sexually active and therefore at greater risk of becoming pregnant (Jessor, Costa, Jessor, and Donovan, 1983) ( Roosa et al, 1997).
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