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Personal and family attributes of pregnant teenagers: findings from a community-based study in Sri Lanka

  • Dulitha N. Fernando , Nalika S. Gunawardena EMAIL logo und Manuj Chrishantha Weerasinghe
Veröffentlicht/Copyright: 22. Januar 2013
International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health
Aus der Zeitschrift International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health Band 26 Heft 1

Abstract

Background: Teenage pregnancies are associated with negative outcomes. Prevention requires understanding them and their families.

Objectives: This study aimed to describe personal and family attributes of pregnant teenagers in Sri Lanka.

Methods: This was a community-based study in Sri Lanka among 510 pregnant teenagers.

Results: Half (50%) of the subjects were 19 years of age at the time of pregnancy. A majority (79.8%) had studied up to grades 6–11. Confidence in decision-making (80.7%) and in refusing unnecessary requests (88.3%) was “excellent” in a majority. Mean age of marriage/co-habiting was 17.6 years. For 31%, marriage/cohabiting was a sudden decision taken jointly with their partner (81.6%) and 83% reported being “legally” married. Substantial proportions of mothers (17.6%) and fathers (13.9%) had not attended school, and 33.1% mothers had worked abroad. Teenagers reported the death of a parent (14.1%), parental separation (10.9%) and being brought up by relatives (20%). Only a few rated strictness of rules/regulations (32.4%), freedom to discuss problems regarding puberty (25.5%), love affairs (12.7%) and sexuality (26.7%) as excellent/good. Of the spouses, 12.9% were <20 years, 71.9% had low education and 98.8% were employed. A majority had “planned” the pregnancy, and for 79.8%, the reason was “husband’s wish to have a baby”.

Conclusions: Pregnant teenagers were mostly in their late teens, from poor families and with low formal education. Though teenagers showed confidence in decision-making, the decision to have a pregnancy had mostly been their spouses. Parents and spouses of the teenagers were also young, less educated and poor. There was evidence of poor parenting practices.

Keywords: family attributes; Sri Lanka; teenage pregnancy
Corresponding author: Nalika S. Gunawardena, MBBS, MD, Senior Lecturer in Community medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo No. 25, Kynsey Road, Colombo 8, Sri Lanka, Phone: +94 112695300, Fax: +94 112677765, E-mail:

Financial support from the United Nationals Population Fund, Sri Lanka to conduct this study is acknowledged.

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Received: 2012-10-10
Accepted: 2012-12-13
Published Online: 2013-01-22
Published in Print: 2014-02-01

©2014 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston

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https://doi.org/10.1515/ijamh-2012-0110
Schlagwörter für diesen Artikel
family attributes; Sri Lanka; teenage pregnancy

Artikel in diesem Heft

  1. Masthead
  2. Masthead
  3. Editorial
  4. To vaccinate or not to vaccinate
  5. Review
  6. Sexual and reproductive health of Portuguese adolescents
  7. Original articles
  8. Tobacco consumption among 12- to 15-year-old schoolchildren in Delhi
  9. Perceptions of communication, family adaptability and cohesion: a comparison of adolescents newly diagnosed with cancer and their parents
  10. The prevalence of bullying and cyberbullying in high school: a 2011 survey
  11. Short- and medium-term impact of a residential weight-loss camp for overweight adolescents
  12. Personal and family attributes of pregnant teenagers: findings from a community-based study in Sri Lanka
  13. Adolescents with anorectal malformation: physical outcome, sexual health and quality of life
  14. What sources do adolescents turn to for information about their health concerns?
  15. Experiences of returning to elite alpine skiing after ACL injury and ACL reconstruction
  16. Hyperandrogenemia in male autistic children and adolescents: relation to disease severity
  17. The career aspirations of adolescents with eating disorders: an exploratory study and suggested links to adolescent self-concept development
  18. Differential effects of religiosity on sexual initiation among Nigerian in-school adolescents
  19. Prevalence of menstrual disorders among adolescent girls in Osogbo, South Western Nigeria
  20. The concepts of work, study, and leisure of parents and children
  21. How do Iranian female adolescents express their health education needs? A needs assessment with qualitative thematic analysis
  22. Attitudes and knowledge levels of nurses and residents caring for adolescents with an eating disorder
  23. Predictors of suicide ideation and risk for HIV among juvenile offenders in Georgia
  24. Short Communication
  25. Association between food intake frequency and obesity among adolescent girls in Saudi Arabia
  26. Case reports
  27. Unusual cause of urethral bleeding in an adolescent: a case in dilemma
  28. Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome: a specific cause of cyclical vomiting
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