Poster #67 - Unique types of Childhood Experiences are Associated with Teenage Pregnancy Patterns

• In Event: Poster Session 09

Abstract

Both the presence of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and the absence of positive childhood experiences are associated with risks for teenage pregnancy (e.g., Hillis et al., 2004, 2010). To date, little research has examined the impact of experiences that occur before the teenage years (i.e., in early and middle childhood specifically). Thus, questions remain about the types of experiences that predate teenage pregnancies compared to those that may occur during or after (i.e., in adolescence) The current study addressed this gap by examining the effects of adverse and benevolent childhood experiences (specifically from birth to age 12 years) on teenage pregnancies (any pregnancy between ages 13 and 19 years) and on intergenerational patterns of teenage pregnancy from participants’ mothers to participants themselves.

Participants were 240 ethnically-diverse pregnant women (M = 28.44 years, SD = 5.72, range =18 – 41); 40.8% White, 24.6% Latinx, 13.8% African American, 5.4% Asian, 2.1% Native-American, 12.1% biracial/multiracial, 1.2% other). Participants completed the ACEs scale (Felitti et al., 1998; CDC, 2020) to assess childhood maltreatment and family dysfunction and 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 occurring from birth to age 12. They also reported the ages at which they first became pregnant (M = 22.76, SD = 6.01, range = 8-40; 33.3% teenage pregnancies) and the age at which their mothers first gave birth (M = 21.18, SD = 5.39, range = 13-39; 44.2% teenage pregnancies). Based on whether participants reported that their first pregnancy occurred as a teenager and whether they reported their mothers first gave birth as a teenager, participants were categorized into four groups: “Intergenerational teenage pregnancy” (i.e., both participants and participants’ mothers ≤ 19 years, n = 49; 20.4%), “intergenerational discontinuity in teenage pregnancy” (only participants’ mothers had their first child ≤ 19 years, n = 57; 23.8%), “first-generation teenage pregnancy” (only participants became pregnant ≤ 19 years, n = 29; 12.1%), and “no teenage pregnancy in either generation” (neither participants nor their mothers became pregnant or had their child ≤ 19 years, n = 96; 40%). [Data were missing for nine participants who did not know their mother’s age at first birth (n = 8) or did not report their own age at first pregnancy (n =1)].

Higher levels of childhood family dysfunction, but not childhood maltreatment or positive childhood experiences predicted participants’ higher odds of a teenage pregnancy (Table 1). Mean levels of childhood maltreatment, family dysfunction, and BCEs also significantly differed between the four intergenerational teenage pregnancy groups (Table 2). Post-hoc chi-square analyses controlling for multiple comparisons indicated that these group differences were driven by specific items from each scale, highlighting the possibility that certain adverse or positive childhood experiences may be more related to teenage pregnancy patterns. Early prevention and intervention efforts aimed at decreasing childhood adversity and increasing positive childhood experiences may be needed to reduce and prevent unintended teenage pregnancies across generations.

Authors

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

• Adi Rosenthal, University of Denver

• Anne DePrince, University of Denver

• Angela J. Narayan, University of Denver