Abstract
Publisher Summary Inadequately protected intercourse can lead to pregnancy, even among young adolescents. 20% of teenagers become pregnant within one month and 50% within six months of the first unprotected intercourse. Even when abortion services are available, pregnancy among adolescents has a high likelihood of leading to childbirth and to the adolescent becoming a parent, usually a single parent. This chapter discusses some of the long-range implications of adolescent parenthood. To understand the implications of adolescent parenthood, one must consider the characteristics of adolescents, the variables that determine the quality and adequacy of parenting, and the characteristics of adolescents that make effective parenthood difficult for them. Adolescent mothers tend to have higher fertility rates than older women, their children are more closely spaced, and they have a larger number of children than desired. All this can impair optimal parenting of the first child and of subsequent children, particularly when resources are limited.
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