Early Sexual Activity, but Not Childhood Sexual Abuse, Increases the Odds of Teenage Pregnancy

Abstract

A survey of 2003 Arizonan (US) women 18-22 years of age indicated that early initiation of sexual activity but not childhood sexual abuse increases the likelihood of an adolescent pregnancy. 88% of these women were sexually active. Overall 26% had had a teenage pregnancy 35% had been sexually abused and 48% had been sexually precocious (intercourse before age 16 years). The teenage pregnancy rate ranged from 19% among Whites to 34% among Mexican Americans. Analysis of variance revealed that 36% of sexually abused women versus 21% of their non-abused peers had had a teenage pregnancy; women who had conceived by 18 years of age were also significantly more likely than their peers who had not become pregnant by age 18 years to have experienced child sexual abuse (50% versus 30%). Sexual history pathways analysis indicated the pregnancy rate among women who had been abused but had not engaged in precocious sexual activity (11.2%) was comparable to that among non-abused non-sexually precocious women (12.3%). The rate was 42.9% among those who had been sexually precocious but not abused and 51.5% if they had been both abused and precocious. 11% of females who had been sexually abused but had not begun voluntary intercourse by age 16 years became pregnant as teenagers compared with 40% of those who began having sex before age 16 years (including some who had also been abused). The strongest predictors of teenage pregnancy explaining 12% of the variance were womans age at first intercourse and use of a contraceptive method at that time.