Adolescent pregnancy: do expectations affect intentions?

Objective: To establish the relationship between expectations about the effects of childbearing on specific aspects of life and the strength of the desire to remain nonpregnant during adolescence. We hypothesized that the absence of negative childbearing expectations is associated with an increase in the odds that sexually active, inadequately contracepting teenage girls are cognitively susceptible to conception.

Method: A racially and ethnically diverse group of 351 nulligravida, inadequately contracepting teenagers was studied.

Does incomplete growth and development predispose teenagers to preterm delivery? A template for research.

Pregnant teenagers are in better physical condition, suffer from fewer chronic diseases, and engage in fewer health-risky behaviors than socioeconomically similar pregnant adults, but give birth to a disproportionately large number of preterm infants. This systematic review of the adolescent pregnancy literature defines the unique risks associated with being young and pregnant by examining how the physical and psychosocial changes that are characteristic of puberty and adolescence interact with traditional risk factors for preterm delivery. The need for age-specific interventions is discussed and recommendations for future research are made.