A comparison of the fertility of Dominican, Puerto Rican and mainland Puerto Rican adolescents
Fennelly, K.; Cornwell, G.; Casper, L.
Family Planning Perspectives 24(3): 107
1992
ISSN/ISBN: 0014-7354 PMID: 1628712 DOI: 10.2307/2135539Document Number: 319743
Researchers analyzed 1980s data on female adolescents including Puerto Ricans in the New York metropolitan area, those in Puerto Rico, and Dominicans in the Dominican Republic to determine the probabilities and determinants of adolescent births among these women. Female adolescents from the Dominican Republic had the highest probability of having delivered an infant by each year from 14-24 years followed by those in Puerto Rico and then Puerto Rican immigrants in the US. For example, the cumulative hazard rate at age 24 was .65 for the Dominicans compared to 0.5 for Puerto Ricans in Puerto Rico and in the US. Moreover 18% of Dominicans delivered an infant before 18 years old whereas this figure for the 2 Puerto Rican groups was 13% and 10% respectively. Further the cumulative probabilities that Puerto Rican female adolescents will have had a child before 20 years old were essentially equal (37.4% and 37.3% respectively) compared to 56.1% for the Dominicans. On the other hand, the order was opposite for premarital births. Puerto Rican women living in metropolitan New York were at greatest risk of having a premarital birth (cumulative hazard rate at age 24=.2) then those living in Puerto Rico (.1) followed by Dominican women (.05). Age at 1st intercourse was the strongest determinant of adolescent birth in all 3 countries (p=.001). Indeed the younger the adolescent was at 1st intercourse, the greater the likelihood she would deliver a child while an adolescent. Another strong determinant of adolescent birth was dropping out of school (p=.001 in US and Puerto Rico; p=.01 in the Dominican Republic). The fact that most women did not use contraceptives before 1st birth was only significant for the women not living in the US (p=.001). Further research is needed to identify regional and cohort differences in contraceptive use and attitudes toward early sexual activity and childbearing.