Title: To whom do inner-city minors talk about their pregnancies? Adolescents' communication with parents and parent surrogates.

POPLINE Document Number: 075405

Author(s):

Zabin LS
Hirsch MB
Emerson MR
Raymond E

Source citation:

Family Planning Perspectives, 1992 Jul-Aug;24(4):148-54, 173.

Abstract:

A study of 334 black, urban teenagers who sought pregnancy tests in 2 Baltimore clinics in 1985-1986 explored communication between the teenagers and their parents or parent surrogates before the pregnancy test visit and, among those whose test results were positive, before the final pregnancy outcome decision. Of these young women, 66% had discussed the possibility that they were pregnant with a parent (usually the mother) or parent surrogate before the test; an additional 6% had turned to another adult. At a follow-up interview a year later, 91% of those whose test results had been positive reported that they had consulted a parent or parent surrogate before deciding what to do about the pregnancy, and 4% had confided in another adult. The probability that an adolescent could consult a parent before deciding what to do about her pregnancy was higher if she was younger, if she lived with the parent, and if she found the parent easy to talk to. A year after the pregnancy test, 88% of the adolescents who had given birth or had had an abortion were satisfied with their pregnancy outcome. Satisfaction was not related to whether the young woman had discussed her decision with a parent. Dissatisfaction was most likely if the parent did not support the final outcome, if someone other than the young woman had made the final decision, or if the final outcome was different from the adolescent's preference at the time of the pregnancy test. (author's)

Keywords:

United States
Maryland
Urban Population
Adolescent Pregnancy
Adolescents, Female
Blacks
Interpersonal Relations
Communication
Parents
Pregnancy Outcomes
Decision Making
Psychological Factors
Satisfaction
Women
Developed Countries
North America
Americas
Population Characteristics
Demographic Factors
Population
Reproductive Behavior
Fertility
Population Dynamics
Adolescents
Youth
Age Factors
Ethnic Groups
Cultural Background
Behavior
Family Relationships
Family Characteristics
Family and Household
Pregnancy
Reproduction