Unique Types of Childhood Experiences Account for Intergenerational Patterns of Teenage Pregnancy

• In Event: Poster Session 09
  In Poster Session: PS 09 Topic - Family Context & Processes

Abstract

Despite studies linking adverse and positive childhood experiences to subsequent teenage pregnancy (e.g., Hillis et al., 2004, 2010), and a growing literature indicating that teenage pregnancies may continue across generations (e.g. Liu et al., 2015), little research has combined these two areas. The current study addressed this gap by examining adverse and benevolent childhood experiences as correlates of intergenerational patterns of teenage pregnancy in low-income women and their mothers.

Participants were 175 low-income pregnant women (M = 28.07 years, SD = 5.68, range = 18-40; 40% White, 26% Latina, 17% African-American, 12% biracial/multiracial, 5% other) Participants completed the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) scale (Felitti et al., 1998; CDC, 2020), which was split into two subtypes: childhood maltreatment, including physical, sexual and emotional abuse, physical and emotional neglect; and exposure to family dysfunction, including parental separation/divorce, domestic violence, substance use, mental illness, and incarceration. Participants also reported whether they experienced five additional childhood adversities: homelessness, exposure to community violence, foster care placement, the death of a close family member/friend, and juvenile detention placement. Participants completed the Benevolent Childhood Experiences (BCEs) scale to assess 10 positive childhood experiences (Narayan et al., 2018). Participants indicated the ages during which positively endorsed items occurred to compute childhood experiences (experiences ≤ 12 years old). Women also reported their age of first pregnancy and the age at which their mothers had their first child. Based on whether women were first pregnant as teenagers (at age 19 or younger) and whether their mothers had their first child at age 19 or younger, women were categorized into four groups: “Intergenerational teenage pregnancy” (i.e., both women and mothers ≤ 19 years, n = 40), “intergenerational discontinuity in teenage pregnancy” (only mothers ≤ 19 years, n = 44), “first-generation teenage pregnancy” (only women ≤ 19 years, n = 25), and “no teenage pregnancy” (neither women nor mothers ≤ 19 years, n = 60). (Data were missing for six women).

After controlling for covariates and adjusting for multiple comparisons, the “intergenerational teenage pregnancy” group had significantly higher levels of exposure to family dysfunction and additional childhood adversities, but not childhood maltreatment nor BCEs, than the “no teenage pregnancy” group (see Table 1). No group differences were observed involving the “intergenerational discontinuity in teenage pregnancy” or “first-generation teenage pregnancy” groups. Post-hoc analyses examined whether there were pairwise group differences between the “intergenerational teenage pregnancy” and “no teenage pregnancy” groups on individual items composing the family dysfunction and additional childhood adversities variables (see Table 2). After adjusting for multiple comparisons, compared to the “no teenage pregnancy” group, the “intergenerational teenage pregnancy” group had significantly higher (p < .01) rates of parental separation/divorce, exposure to domestic violence, parental incarceration, childhood homelessness, and exposure to community violence and marginally significantly higher (p < .05) rates of foster care placement.

Findings provide novel insight that specific types of childhood adversities reflecting family and community discord, violence, and instability, rather than direct childhood maltreatment or positive childhood experiences, may account for intergenerational patterns of teenage pregnancy.

Authors

• Jillian Merrick, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago
  Presenting Author

• Adi Rosenthal, University of Denver
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kisori Thomas, University of Colorado Denver
  Non-Presenting Author

• Anne DePrince, University of Denver
  Non-Presenting Author

• Angela J Narayan, University of Minnesota
  Non-Presenting Author