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July 7, 1989, Vol 262, No. 1 >
ARTICLE | July 7, 1989

Adolescent Pregnancy and Its Consequences FREE

Elizabeth R. McAnarney, MD; William R. Hendee, PhD
[+] Author Affiliations

Reprint requests to the Group on Science and Technology, American Medical Association, 535 N Dearborn St, Chicago, IL 60610 (Dr Hendee).


JAMA. 1989;262(1):74-77. doi:10.1001/jama.1989.03430010086036
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References

MUCH has been written about adolescent pregnancy and childbearing during the last decade. The facts are clear and distressing: In 1982, 1 077 124 pregnancies occurred in 15- to 19-year-old adolescents; 513 758 (47%) ended in live births, 418 740 (39%) in therapeutic abortions, and 144 626 (13%) in spontaneous abortions. Of all live births to adolescents, nearly 48% were born to unmarried women.1 In 1984, fewer (469 682) children were born to women younger than 19 years, but this decrease resulted primarily from a reduction in the adolescent age group.2

Compared with other developed countries, the United States exhibits significantly higher pregnancy, birth, and abortion rates in its adolescent population. In 1981, for example, the adolescent pregnancy rate for women 15 to 19 years old was 96/1000 in the United States compared with 14/1000 in the Netherlands. The comparison of rates from a country as heterogeneous as

REFERENCES

1 +
Moore KA, Wenk D, Hofferth SL, Hayes CD, eds:  Statistical appendix: trends in adolescent sexual and fertility behavior . In: Hofferth SL, Hayes CD, eds. Risking the Future . Washington, DC: National Academy Press; 1987;;2:353-503.
2 +
Hofferth SL.  Teenage pregnancy and its resolution . In: Hofferth SL, Hayes CD, eds. Risking the Future . Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1987;;2:78-92.
3 +
Jones EF, Forrest JD, Goldman N, et al.  Teenage pregnancy in developed countries: determinants and policy implications . Fam Plann Perspect . 1985;;17:53-63.
4 +
Tanner JM. Growth at Adolescence . Boston, Mass: Blackwell Scientific Publications Inc; 1962;.
5 +
Tanner JM. Fetus Into Man: Physical Growth From Conception to Maturity . Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press; 1978;.
6 +
Orr DP, Brack CJ, Ingersoll G.  Pubertal maturation and cognitive maturity in adolescents . J Adolesc Health Care. 1988;;4:273-279.
7 +
Conger JJ, Petersen AC. Adolescence and Youth: Psychological Development in a Changing World . New York, NY: Harper & Row Publishers Inc; 1984;.
8 +
Kimmel DC, Weiner IB. Adolescence: A Developmental Transition. Hillsdale , NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc Publishers; 1985;.
9 +
Hofferth SL, Kahn JR, Baldwin W.  Premarital sexual activity among US teenage women over the past three decades . Fam Plann Perspect . 1987;; 19:46-54.
10 +
Zelnik M, Kantner JF, Ford K. Sex and Pregnancy in Adolescence . Beverly Hills, Calif: Sage Publications Inc; 1981;.
11 +
Pratt WF, Hendershot G.  The use of family planning services by sexually active teenage women . Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America; May 3-5, 1984; Minneapolis, Minn .
12 +
Finkel ML, Finkel DJ.  Sexual and contraceptive knowledge, attitudes and behavior of male adolescents . In: Furstenberg FF, Lincoln R, Menken J, eds. Teenage Sexuality, Pregnancy, and Childbearing . Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press; 1981;:327-336.
13 +
Kantner JF, Zelnik M.  Sexual experience of young unmarried women in the United States . Fam Plann Perspect. 1972;;4:9-18.
14 +
McAnarney ER, Shreider C. Identifying Social and Psychological Antecedents of Adolescent Pregnancy: The Contribution of Research to Concepts of Prevention . New York, NY: William T Grant Foundation; 1984;.
15 +
Jessor SL, Jessor R.  Transition from virginity to non-virginity among youth: a social-psychological study over time . Dev Psychol. 1975;;11:473-484.
16 +
Furstenberg FF. Unplanned Parenthood: The Social Consequences of Teenage Childbearing . New York, NY: The Free Press; 1975;.
17 +
Von der Ahe CV.  The unwed teenage mother . Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1969;;104:279-287.
18 +
Miller PY, Simon W.  Adolescent sexual behavior: context and change . Soc Probl. 1974;;22:58-76.
19 +
Zuckerman BS, Amaro H, Beardslee W.  Mental health of adolescent mothers: the implications of depression and drug use . J Dev Behav Pediatr . 1987;;8:111-116.
20 +
McAnarney ER.  Touching and adolescent sexuality . In: Brown CC, ed. The Many Facets of Touch: The Foundation of Experience: Its Importance Through Life, With Initial Emphasis for Infants and Young Children . Skillman, NJ: Johnson & Johnson Baby Products Co; 1984;:138-146.
21 +
McAnarney ER, ed. Premature Adolescent Pregnancy and Parenthood . New York, NY: Grune & Stratton; 1983;.
22 +
Battaglia FC, Frazier TM, Hellegers AE.  Obstetric and pediatric complications of juvenile pregnancy . Pediatrics . 1963;;32:902-910.
23 +
Duenhoelter J, Jimenez J, Baumann G.  Pregnancy performance of patients under 15 years of age . Obstet Gynecol. 1975;;46:49-52.
24 +
Spellacy WN, Mahan CS, Cruz AC.  The adolescent's first pregnancy: a controlled study . South Med J. 1978;;71:768-771.
25 +
Graham D.  The obstetric and neonatal consequences of adolescent pregnancy . Birth Defects . 1981;;17:49-67.
26 +
Committee to Study the Prevention of Low Birthweight, Division of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Institute of Medicine. Preventing Low Birthweight . Washington, DC: National Academy Press; 1985;.
27 +
 Advance report of final natality statistics, 1985 . Monthly Vital Statist Rep . 1987;;36( (suppl) ):1-43.
28 +
Lee KS, Corpuz M.  Teenage pregnancy: trend and impact on rates of low birth weight and fetal, maternal, and neonatal mortality in the United States . Clin Perinatol. 1988;;15:929-942.
29 +
McCormick MC, Shapiro S, Starfield B.  High-risk mothers: infant mortality and morbidity in four areas in the United States: 1973-1978 . Am J Public Health. 1984;;79:18-23.
30 +
Klerman LV, Jekel JF. School-Age Mothers: Problems, Programs, and Policy . Hamden, Conn: Shoe String Press; 1973;.
31 +
Kleinman JC, Kessel SS.  Racial differences in low birth weight . N Engl J Med. 1987;;317:749-754.
32 +
Standfast SJ, Jereb S, Janerich DT.  The epidemiology of sudden infant death in upstate New York, II: birth characteristics . Am J Public Health. 1980;;70:1061-1067.
33 +
Taylor B, Wadsworth J, Butler NR.  Teenage mothering, admission to hospital, and accidents during the first 5 years . Arch Dis Child. 1983;;58:6-11.
34 +
Hardy JB, Welcher DW, Stanley J, Dallas JR.  Long-range outcome of adolescent pregnancy . Clin Obstet Gynecol. 1978;;21:1215-1232.
35 +
Oppel WE, Royston AB.  Teenage births: some social, psychological, and physical sequelae . Am J Public Health . 1971;;61:751-756.
36 +
Record RG, McKeown T, Edwards JH.  The relation of measured intelligence to birth order and maternal age . Ann Hum Genet. 1969;;33:61-69.
37 +
McAnarney ER, Lawrence RA, Ricciuti HN, Polley J, Szilagy M.  Interactions of adolescent mothers and their 1-year-old children . Pediatrics. 1986;;78:585-590.
38 +
Olson SL, Bates JE, Bayles K.  Mother-infant interaction and the development of individual differences in children's cognitive competence . Dev Psychol. 1984;;20:166-179.
39 +
Furstenberg FF, Brooks-Gunn J, Morgan SP.  Adolescent mothers and their children in later life . Fam Plann Perspect. 1987;;19:142-152.
40 +
Card J, Wise L.  Teenage mothers and teenage fathers: the impact of early childbearing on the parents' personal and professional lives . Fam Plann Perspect. 1978;;10:199-205.
41 +
Wetzel JR. American Youth: A Statistical Snapshot . New York, NY: William T Grant Foundation; 1987;.
42 +
Moore KA.  Teenage childbirth and welfare dependence . Fam Plann Perspect. 1978;;10:233-235.
43 +
Burt MR, Levy F.  Estimates of public costs for teenage childbearing: a review of recent studies and estimates of 1985 public costs . In: Hofferth SL, Hayes CD, eds. Risking the Future . Washington, DC: National Academy Press; 1987;;2:264-293.
44 +
Hofferth SL.  Social and economic consequences of teenage childbearing . In: Hofferth SL, Hayes CD, eds. Risking the Future . Washington, DC: National Academy Press; 1987;;2:129-130.
45 +
Park RD, Neville B.  Teenage fatherhood . In: Hofferth SL, Hayes CD, eds. Risking the Future . Washington, DC: National Academy Press; 1987;; 2:145-174.
46 +
Sander JH, Rosen JL.  Teenage fathers: working with the neglected partner in adolescent childbearing . Fam Plann Perspect. 1987;;19:107-111.
47 +
Elster AB, Panzarine S.  Teenage fathers: stresses during gestation and early parenthood . Clin Pediatr. 1983;;22:700-703.
48 +
Elster AB, Panzarine S.  The adolescent father . Semin Perinatol. 1981;;5:39-51.
49 +
Elster AB, Lamb ME, Tavare J.  Association between behavioral and school problems and fatherhood in a national sample of adolescent youths . J Pediatr. 1987;;111:932-936.
50 +
Cates W, Schulz KF, Grimes DA.  The risks associated with teenage abortion . N Engl J Med. 1983;;309:621-624.
51 +
Wadhera A, Nair C.  Legal abortions among teenagers in Canada, 1974 through 1978 . Can Med Assoc J. 1980;;122:1386-1388.
52 +
Tishler C.  Adolescent suicide attempts following elective abortion: a special case of anniversary reaction . Pediatrics. 1981;;68:670-671.
53 +
Greydanus D.  Abortion in adolescence . Semin Adolesc Med. 1985;;1:213-222.
54 +
Jekel JF, Tyler NC, Klerman LV.  Induced abortion and sterilization among women who became mothers as adolescents . Am J Public Health. 1977;;67:621-625.

Figures

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Interactive Graphics

Video

Country-Specific Mortality and Growth Failure in Infancy and Yound Children and Association With Material Stature

Use interactive graphics and maps to view and sort country-specific infant and early dhildhood mortality and growth failure data and their association with maternal

1 +
Moore KA, Wenk D, Hofferth SL, Hayes CD, eds:  Statistical appendix: trends in adolescent sexual and fertility behavior . In: Hofferth SL, Hayes CD, eds. Risking the Future . Washington, DC: National Academy Press; 1987;;2:353-503.
2 +
Hofferth SL.  Teenage pregnancy and its resolution . In: Hofferth SL, Hayes CD, eds. Risking the Future . Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1987;;2:78-92.
3 +
Jones EF, Forrest JD, Goldman N, et al.  Teenage pregnancy in developed countries: determinants and policy implications . Fam Plann Perspect . 1985;;17:53-63.
4 +
Tanner JM. Growth at Adolescence . Boston, Mass: Blackwell Scientific Publications Inc; 1962;.
5 +
Tanner JM. Fetus Into Man: Physical Growth From Conception to Maturity . Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press; 1978;.
6 +
Orr DP, Brack CJ, Ingersoll G.  Pubertal maturation and cognitive maturity in adolescents . J Adolesc Health Care. 1988;;4:273-279.
7 +
Conger JJ, Petersen AC. Adolescence and Youth: Psychological Development in a Changing World . New York, NY: Harper & Row Publishers Inc; 1984;.
8 +
Kimmel DC, Weiner IB. Adolescence: A Developmental Transition. Hillsdale , NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc Publishers; 1985;.
9 +
Hofferth SL, Kahn JR, Baldwin W.  Premarital sexual activity among US teenage women over the past three decades . Fam Plann Perspect . 1987;; 19:46-54.
10 +
Zelnik M, Kantner JF, Ford K. Sex and Pregnancy in Adolescence . Beverly Hills, Calif: Sage Publications Inc; 1981;.
11 +
Pratt WF, Hendershot G.  The use of family planning services by sexually active teenage women . Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America; May 3-5, 1984; Minneapolis, Minn .
12 +
Finkel ML, Finkel DJ.  Sexual and contraceptive knowledge, attitudes and behavior of male adolescents . In: Furstenberg FF, Lincoln R, Menken J, eds. Teenage Sexuality, Pregnancy, and Childbearing . Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press; 1981;:327-336.
13 +
Kantner JF, Zelnik M.  Sexual experience of young unmarried women in the United States . Fam Plann Perspect. 1972;;4:9-18.
14 +
McAnarney ER, Shreider C. Identifying Social and Psychological Antecedents of Adolescent Pregnancy: The Contribution of Research to Concepts of Prevention . New York, NY: William T Grant Foundation; 1984;.
15 +
Jessor SL, Jessor R.  Transition from virginity to non-virginity among youth: a social-psychological study over time . Dev Psychol. 1975;;11:473-484.
16 +
Furstenberg FF. Unplanned Parenthood: The Social Consequences of Teenage Childbearing . New York, NY: The Free Press; 1975;.
17 +
Von der Ahe CV.  The unwed teenage mother . Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1969;;104:279-287.
18 +
Miller PY, Simon W.  Adolescent sexual behavior: context and change . Soc Probl. 1974;;22:58-76.
19 +
Zuckerman BS, Amaro H, Beardslee W.  Mental health of adolescent mothers: the implications of depression and drug use . J Dev Behav Pediatr . 1987;;8:111-116.
20 +
McAnarney ER.  Touching and adolescent sexuality . In: Brown CC, ed. The Many Facets of Touch: The Foundation of Experience: Its Importance Through Life, With Initial Emphasis for Infants and Young Children . Skillman, NJ: Johnson & Johnson Baby Products Co; 1984;:138-146.
21 +
McAnarney ER, ed. Premature Adolescent Pregnancy and Parenthood . New York, NY: Grune & Stratton; 1983;.
22 +
Battaglia FC, Frazier TM, Hellegers AE.  Obstetric and pediatric complications of juvenile pregnancy . Pediatrics . 1963;;32:902-910.
23 +
Duenhoelter J, Jimenez J, Baumann G.  Pregnancy performance of patients under 15 years of age . Obstet Gynecol. 1975;;46:49-52.
24 +
Spellacy WN, Mahan CS, Cruz AC.  The adolescent's first pregnancy: a controlled study . South Med J. 1978;;71:768-771.
25 +
Graham D.  The obstetric and neonatal consequences of adolescent pregnancy . Birth Defects . 1981;;17:49-67.
26 +
Committee to Study the Prevention of Low Birthweight, Division of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Institute of Medicine. Preventing Low Birthweight . Washington, DC: National Academy Press; 1985;.
27 +
 Advance report of final natality statistics, 1985 . Monthly Vital Statist Rep . 1987;;36( (suppl) ):1-43.
28 +
Lee KS, Corpuz M.  Teenage pregnancy: trend and impact on rates of low birth weight and fetal, maternal, and neonatal mortality in the United States . Clin Perinatol. 1988;;15:929-942.
29 +
McCormick MC, Shapiro S, Starfield B.  High-risk mothers: infant mortality and morbidity in four areas in the United States: 1973-1978 . Am J Public Health. 1984;;79:18-23.
30 +
Klerman LV, Jekel JF. School-Age Mothers: Problems, Programs, and Policy . Hamden, Conn: Shoe String Press; 1973;.
31 +
Kleinman JC, Kessel SS.  Racial differences in low birth weight . N Engl J Med. 1987;;317:749-754.
32 +
Standfast SJ, Jereb S, Janerich DT.  The epidemiology of sudden infant death in upstate New York, II: birth characteristics . Am J Public Health. 1980;;70:1061-1067.
33 +
Taylor B, Wadsworth J, Butler NR.  Teenage mothering, admission to hospital, and accidents during the first 5 years . Arch Dis Child. 1983;;58:6-11.
34 +
Hardy JB, Welcher DW, Stanley J, Dallas JR.  Long-range outcome of adolescent pregnancy . Clin Obstet Gynecol. 1978;;21:1215-1232.
35 +
Oppel WE, Royston AB.  Teenage births: some social, psychological, and physical sequelae . Am J Public Health . 1971;;61:751-756.
36 +
Record RG, McKeown T, Edwards JH.  The relation of measured intelligence to birth order and maternal age . Ann Hum Genet. 1969;;33:61-69.
37 +
McAnarney ER, Lawrence RA, Ricciuti HN, Polley J, Szilagy M.  Interactions of adolescent mothers and their 1-year-old children . Pediatrics. 1986;;78:585-590.
38 +
Olson SL, Bates JE, Bayles K.  Mother-infant interaction and the development of individual differences in children's cognitive competence . Dev Psychol. 1984;;20:166-179.
39 +
Furstenberg FF, Brooks-Gunn J, Morgan SP.  Adolescent mothers and their children in later life . Fam Plann Perspect. 1987;;19:142-152.
40 +
Card J, Wise L.  Teenage mothers and teenage fathers: the impact of early childbearing on the parents' personal and professional lives . Fam Plann Perspect. 1978;;10:199-205.
41 +
Wetzel JR. American Youth: A Statistical Snapshot . New York, NY: William T Grant Foundation; 1987;.
42 +
Moore KA.  Teenage childbirth and welfare dependence . Fam Plann Perspect. 1978;;10:233-235.
43 +
Burt MR, Levy F.  Estimates of public costs for teenage childbearing: a review of recent studies and estimates of 1985 public costs . In: Hofferth SL, Hayes CD, eds. Risking the Future . Washington, DC: National Academy Press; 1987;;2:264-293.
44 +
Hofferth SL.  Social and economic consequences of teenage childbearing . In: Hofferth SL, Hayes CD, eds. Risking the Future . Washington, DC: National Academy Press; 1987;;2:129-130.
45 +
Park RD, Neville B.  Teenage fatherhood . In: Hofferth SL, Hayes CD, eds. Risking the Future . Washington, DC: National Academy Press; 1987;; 2:145-174.
46 +
Sander JH, Rosen JL.  Teenage fathers: working with the neglected partner in adolescent childbearing . Fam Plann Perspect. 1987;;19:107-111.
47 +
Elster AB, Panzarine S.  Teenage fathers: stresses during gestation and early parenthood . Clin Pediatr. 1983;;22:700-703.
48 +
Elster AB, Panzarine S.  The adolescent father . Semin Perinatol. 1981;;5:39-51.
49 +
Elster AB, Lamb ME, Tavare J.  Association between behavioral and school problems and fatherhood in a national sample of adolescent youths . J Pediatr. 1987;;111:932-936.
50 +
Cates W, Schulz KF, Grimes DA.  The risks associated with teenage abortion . N Engl J Med. 1983;;309:621-624.
51 +
Wadhera A, Nair C.  Legal abortions among teenagers in Canada, 1974 through 1978 . Can Med Assoc J. 1980;;122:1386-1388.
52 +
Tishler C.  Adolescent suicide attempts following elective abortion: a special case of anniversary reaction . Pediatrics. 1981;;68:670-671.
53 +
Greydanus D.  Abortion in adolescence . Semin Adolesc Med. 1985;;1:213-222.
54 +
Jekel JF, Tyler NC, Klerman LV.  Induced abortion and sterilization among women who became mothers as adolescents . Am J Public Health. 1977;;67:621-625.

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