Ever-pregnant and never-pregnant teens in a temporary housing shelter

Sheaff, L.; Talashek, M.

Journal of Community Health Nursing 12(1): 33-45

1995


ISSN/ISBN: 0737-0016
PMID: 7897469
DOI: 10.1207/s15327655jchn1201_4
Document Number: 290204
Each year, 10% of teenage girls in the US become pregnant. 84% of teen pregnancies are unintended. Many risk factors for teen pregnancy have been identified, including demographic, sociocultural, and developmental variables, but pregnancy among adolescents living in temporary housing shelters has not been previously studied. These girls, however, come from dysfunctional homes and many experience teen pregnancy. This study was conducted to describe the differences in selected demographic, sociocultural, physiological, psychological, and cognitive variables among 136 ever-pregnant and never-pregnant teens residing in a temporary housing shelter over the course of a one-year period. The study site is a 12-bed facility for abused and neglected adolescents aged 12-18 years in the suburb of a large metropolitan area. The shelter was founded in 1975 to provide up to six weeks of emergency housing for female teenagers. Data were obtained through chart reviews at the shelter. 30% of the girls were ever pregnant and 70% were never pregnant. The study found teens who had been pregnant to have significantly higher chronological age, gynecological age, and school grade level in addition to reporting significantly greater histories of both rape and voluntary sexual activity than did never-pregnant teens. Teen pregnancy is indeed a major problem among adolescents in temporary housing shelters. Clinical interventions and further research are therefore warranted with regard to this situation.

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