Late social and psychological aftereffect of pregnancy in adolescence

Abstract

Pregnancy in midadolescence may continue to affect social and psychological competence long after the pregnancy ends. Most studies report the effects on the children of these young mothers while only a few have examined the mothers who kept their babies and none have looked past the first decade after the birth. Twenty men and women who became parents in midadolescence were interviewed 17 to 24 years later. All were first seen because of family discord and the breakdown of parent-child relationships due to the rebellious behavior during the adolescence of the child born in their own adolescence. All of these adolescents had been well-behaved in childhood, but, having begun to date, were viewed by the parents as being troublesome and in danger of repeating the parental "mistake". Mothers were found to overtly spy on their daughters and expressed distrust of their heterosexual relationships. Fathers were distant and distrustful of their children and doubtful of their own abilities to control behavior. All parents were unable to discuss sexuality with their children. Pregnancy in midadolescence may significantly affect parental relationships with the subsequent children, especially when those children become adolescents.