Adolescent pregnancy: an interpersonal skill training approach to prevention
Schinke, S.P.; Gilchrist, L.D.
Social Work in Health Care 3(2): 159-167
1977
ISSN/ISBN: 0098-1389 PMID: 617764 Document Number: 497618
The research literature reports numerous medical risks associated with teenage pregnancy, including increased incidence of infant mortality, prematurity, and neurological impairments linked to prematurity. Teenage pregnancies also heighten the risk of maternal mortality and morbidity. Furthermore, early childbearing often initiates a rapid sequence of subsequent pregnancies, each with increasing obstetrical risk. In addition to medical risks, pregnancy in adolescence is associated with untoward social and psychological consequences, namely, the interruption or termination of the parent's education, usually accompanied by loss or reduction in earning power. This cycle often culminates in dependence on public assistance and the social welfare system. Unfortunately, contemporary approaches to preventing teenage pregnancies have been largely unsuccessful. Such approaches can be characterized as either reductionistic, stressing a single underlying explanation; or developmental, emphasizing normal adolescent maturational processes, and multiple causal factors. The literature reports adolescent pregnancy prevention as requiring more knowledge and access to contraceptive methods. New skills as well as new knowledge are necessary to cope with bodily changes and changing societal expectations. Available data suggest that interpersonal communication may play an important role in determining sexual activity and contraceptive use among adolescents. This paper describes a pilot study of an interpersonal skill training model for sexually active inner-city teenagers enrolled in a public school's continuation program for school-age parents and parents-to-be. Results of this pilot study, generated by group leaders' observations and students' evaluations, suggest that the group sessions represented a viable and attractive approach to interpersonal communication training. This training approach appears germane for the adolescent target population. Furthermore, the interpersonal skill model represents an economical and portable training approach. Public schools, family practice outpatient clinics, public health agencies and family planning centers are particularly suited for this approach. Future research should build upon results of the presnet study and findings of other investigators, suggesting the efficacy of a personalized and peer-supported adolescent pregnancy prevention approach, using role playing and peer assistance as educational techniques.