The Consequences of Teenage Pregnancy with Regards to Socioeconomic Status and Pregnancy Perceptions
Open Access
Author:
Klingler, Nicole Marie
Area of Honors:
Sociology
Degree:
Bachelor of Science
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
D. Wayne Osgood, Thesis Supervisor Dr. Jeffery Todd Ulmer, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
pregnancy socioeconomic status teenage childbearing
Abstract:
This study attempts to determine the consequences of teenage child bearing for delinquency and substance use, and how that relationship varies with socioeconomic status and attitudes towards becoming pregnant. The study was designed to address four different research hypotheses: 1) girls with a positive view of pregnancy are more likely to become pregnant 2) girls whose families are on public assistance are more likely to become pregnant 3) girls on public assistance are more likely to desist from crime than girls who become pregnant and are not on public assistance 4) girls with positive views of pregnancy experience greater desistance from crime. The study uses data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to determine the rates of deviance on six different scales over the period of a year. Cross tabulations revealed that girls with positive views towards pregnancy and girls on public assistance are more likely to become pregnant. A comparison of means at two different times revealed that girls who were pregnant and whose families were on public assistance experienced greater desistance from crime. Logistic regression however showed that pregnancy and being both pregnant and on public assistance caused increases in delinquency, violence, drug use and drinking but not at statistically significant levels. The results of the study are ambiguous and do not provide a clear answer for the hypotheses. More research must be done to recommend policy changes.