Positive or Not: What does the Research Say?
Teenage pregnancy and parenting is often viewed in a wholly negative light. However, research shows that teen parenting can be fulfilling and may provide an impetus for positive change in the young person’s life. Some research even shows that in high income countries, with adequate obstetrical follow-up, pregnant adolescents do better medically than older adults.
A 2023 position paper from the European Academy of Paediatrics notes that the medical consequence of adolescent pregnancy is highly dependent on the context of healthcare delivery.
But before we get into the research, a quick heads up that this article contains some research jargon. If academic-speak isn’t your thing, don’t worry, you’ll still get the gist of things.
In a 2020 retrospective cross-sectional study in Poland, researchers investigated the attitudes of teenage mothers towards pregnancy and childbirth. The study used a five-point Likert scale and a Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R) to assess dispositional optimism (which means young mothers filled out a survey about whether they expected positive things in their future). Over 300 teenage mothers aged between 13 and 19 (n=308) took part in the study. Findings showed that the attitudes of teenage mothers towards pregnancy and childbirth were overwhelmingly positive (90.6%). Only 9.4% of participants reported negative attitudes.[1]
In 2004, a UK primary care qualitative research study investigated the experiences of teenage mothers in relation to their role as mothers and their expectations of their futures (n=9, which means this is the total number of participants).[2] Semi-structured interviews were conducted, audiotaped, transcribed, and analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (this means that the researchers were looking at how young mothers made sense of their experiences). The results showed that the women had positive attitudes to being mothers. For some, motherhood provided an impetus for positive change. There was recognition that they were young enough to pursue further education or other employment opportunities as their children grew older. The study concluded that for the women in the study, teenage motherhood had not meant that their life and future were over. Rather motherhood and child-rearing were valued by the participants. Furthermore, the women were positive and realistic about their futures, often making plans to develop their careers.[2]
Other cross-sectional qualitative research conducted in 2013 in the Dominican Republic showed similar positive outcomes. Narratives from semi-structured interviews with adolescent mothers (n=21) suggested the experience of motherhood may provide unconditional love, a sense of purpose in life, hope for future financial support and an alternative pathway to adulthood for poor Dominican Haitian adolescent females.[3]
In another 2015 study conducted in the state of Indiana in the US, researchers reviewed the journal entries of 52 multi-ethnic pregnant and parenting adolescents over a 6-week period to explore their motivations and aspirations for the future.[4] They found that the participants aspired to provide a ‘better life’ for their children and several participants acknowledged the path to a better life as involving school and career. The majority of participants wrote about feeling strong and reported an overall positive self-image. The authors of the study noted that their findings aligned with other research on adolescent mothers including: a) ethnographic research by Herman (2006) showing that parenting had a positive impact on their aspirations, including young mothers putting an increased value on achieving their diploma and goal orientation toward work and career (n=16); b) research by Brubaker and Wright (2006), which found a stronger, more valued sense of self by teen mothers (n=51); and c) research by Lesser, Anderson and Koniak-Griffin (1998), which showed that pregnant teens had a desire to repair and heal the wounds they had suffered, often at the hands of their own parents, when they were younger and that pregnancy was seen as a positive turning point (n=36).
Findings from a 2020 study of 308 teenage mothers showed that their attitudes towards pregnancy and childbirth were overwhelmingly positive (90.6%).
Research seems to be divided on the association between medical risks and outcomes for teen mothers and their babies. A 2023 position paper from the European Academy of Paediatrics notes that the medical consequence of adolescent pregnancy is highly dependent on the context of healthcare delivery.[5] The position paper notes that in high income countries with an adequate obstetrical follow-up pregnant adolescents do not face more complications than older pregnant women but rather may do better medically. Some studies show that teenage mothers are more likely to have a vaginal delivery without complications.[6] A 2001 study published in the BMJ found that well-nourished women in developed countries were at no increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcome during their first teenage birth when compared to women aged 20-29 years of age after potential confounding variables were taken into account.[7]
However, other studies show that there can be an increased risk of abnormalities and negative outcomes during pregnancy and childbirth and in the initial condition of newborns.[6] Inadequate prenatal care among teenagers has been shown to be a risk factor for eclampsia, UTI and adverse neonatal outcomes. [6]. Balanda-Baldyga et al (2020) also cite 14 different research studies linking negative obstetric outcomes to a range of different factors including poor living conditions of girls, risky health behaviours, inadequate prenatal care, and biological immaturity.[1]
In developing countries childbirth is much riskier for adolescent girls and their babies. Research findings in these countries shows that pregnancy-related conditions are the second major cause of death among adolescent girls.[8] Other serious conditions like obstetric fistula, eclampsia, puerperal endometritis, and systemic infections are also possible in the short- and long-term.[9] Evidence also shows that perinatal death rates are higher and that babies born to teenage parents have lower birth weights.[8]
Canadian research into the association between mental health and teenage pregnancy has shown that around 50 per 1,000 adolescents with a major mental illness become pregnant as compared to 15 per 10,000 adolescents from the general population.[5] This suggests that mental health challenges may contribute to rates of teen pregnancy.
In terms of overall disadvantage, people often express that teen pregnancy causes or perpetuates a cycle of deprivation. However, research has shown that problems of deprivation are more related to the background of the women than to the age at which she starts childbearing.[10,11] It is likely that poverty and deprivation are as much the causes and correlates of teenage pregnancy as they are effects.[2,12,13] Likewise, educational disruption is often synonymous with teenage parenting. Yet, research has shown that this disruption often happens before the pregnancy and it may be more appropriate to consider educational outcomes at a later stage in life rather than in the first couple of years postpartum.[11,14] There is also some evidence of lower long-term permanent disadvantage for younger teenage mothers (females falling pregnant before 18) versus older teenage mothers (between 18 and 20 years of age). One explanation is that the effects of teen parenting diminishes over time and does not continue to persist in later life. Another explanation is that younger teen parents may have additional support from their own family which offsets some of the more negative effects of parenting at a young age.[15]
Comprehensive social, economic, environmental, structural, and cultural supports are likely to reduce the prevalence of adverse effects and improve the experience of teen parenting.
In summary, teenage pregnancy and parenting can have a wide range of impacts on a person’s life over the short and longer term. While some outcomes are suboptimal, there can also be positive outcomes. Poverty, disadvantage, mental health issues, and inadequate access to antenatal care can all exacerbate challenges. Ultimately, the experience of each person differs, but having comprehensive social, economic, environmental, structural, and cultural supports are likely to improve the outcomes for adolescent parent families.
References
[1] Balanda-Baldyga A, Pilewska-Kozak AB, Lepecka-Klusek C, Stadnicka G, Dobrowolska B. Attitudes of Teenage Mothers towards Pregnancy and Childbirth. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Feb 21;17(4):1411. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17041411. PMID: 32098226; PMCID: PMC7068586.
[2] Seamark CJ, Lings P. Positive experiences of teenage motherhood: a qualitative study. Br J Gen Pract. 2004 Nov;54(508):813-8. PMID: 15527606; PMCID: PMC1324913. Available: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1324913/ Accessed: 14 November 2023.
[3] Salusky I. (2013). The meaning of motherhood: Adolescent childbearing and its significance for poor Dominican females of Haitian descent. Journal of Adolescent Research, 28, no.5 591-614. Available: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266675987_The_Meaning_of_Motherhood. Accessed: 24 May 2024.
[4] O’Brien Cherry, C., Chumbler, N., Bute, J., & Huff, A. (2015). Building a “Better Life”: The Transformative Effects of Adolescent Pregnancy and Parenting. Sage Open, 5(1). Available: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2158244015571638?icid=int.sj-abstract.similar-articles.7#bibr21-2158244015571638. Accessed: 24 May 2024.
[5] Vieira Martins M, Karara N, Dembinski L, Jacot-Guillarmod M, Mazur A, Hadjipanayis A and Michaud P (2023) Adolescent pregnancy: An important issue for paediatricians and primary care providers—A position paper from the European academy of paediatrics. Front. Pediatr. 11:1119500. doi: 10.3389/fped.2023.1119500. Available: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fped.2023.1119500/full#B22. Accessed: 14 November 2023.
[6] Leppälahti S., Gissler M., Mentula M., Heikinheimo O. Is teenage pregnancy an obstetric risk in a welfare society? A population-based study in Finland, from 2006 to 2011. BMJ Open. 2013:3. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2013-003225. Available: https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/3/8/e003225.short Accessed: 14 November 2023.
[7] Smith GCS, Pell JP. Teenage pregnancy and risk of adverse perinatal outcomes associated with first and second births: population based retrospective cohort study. BMJ. 2001;323(7311):476. Available: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC48130/ Accessed: 14 November 2023.
[8] Wado, Y.D., Sully, E.A. & Mumah, J.N. Pregnancy and early motherhood among adolescents in five East African countries: a multi-level analysis of risk and protective factors. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth 19, 59 (2019). Available: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-019-2204-z. Accessed: 14 November 2023.
[9] UNICEF. 2024. Early childbearing [online data]. Available: https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-health/adolescent-health/. Accessed: 9 June 2024.
[10] Geronimus AT, Korenman S. The socioeconomic consequences of teen childbearing reconsidered. Quarterly J Econ. 1992;197:1187–1214. Available: https://academic.oup.com/qje/article-abstract/107/4/1187/1846926. Accessed: 14 November 2023.
[11] Corcoran J. Consequences of adolescent pregnancy/parenting: A review of the literature. Soc Work Health Care. 1998;27(2):49–67. Available: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1300/J010v27n02_03 . Accessed: 14 November 2023.
[12] Barr, Ashley B. and Simons Ronald L. (2012) College aspirations and expectations among new African-American mothers in late adolescence, Gender and Education, 24:7, 745-763. Available: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09540253.2012.712097. Accessed: 14 November 2023.
[13] SmithBattle L. (2007b). Legacies of advantage and disadvantage: The case of teen mothers. Public Health Nursing, 24, 409-420. Available: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1525-1446.2007.00651.x Accessed: 14 November 2023.
[14] Klerman LV. Adolescent pregnancy and poverty: controversies of the past and lessons for the future. J Adolesc Health. 1993;14(7):553–561. Available: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8312292/ Accessed: 14 November 2023.
[15] Kaplan G., Goodman A., Walker I. Understanding the effects of early motherhood in Britain: The effects on Mothers. Warwick Econ. Res. Pap. 2004;706:1–32. Available: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=545663. Accessed: 14 November 2023.
Last updated: 9 June 2024.