Perception of Mothers on the Factors Predisposing to Adolescent Teenage Pregnancy in Akure South Local Government Ondo State

Abstract

The study is on perception of mothers on the factors predisposing to adolescent teenage pregnancy in Akure South Local Government Area of Ondo State. The present study aimed at identifying mothers’ perception on the factors predisposing to adolescent pregnancy. The researchers formulated three research questions to guide the study. Cross sectional descriptive research survey was adopted. The samples for the study were 400 respondents randomly selected from 15 political wards in the entire local government. The instrument for the study was self-developed structured questionnaire. The validity of the instrument was established by expert judgment in the field of public health while reliability of the instrument was established by test retest method. The instrument was distributed by the researchers and same collected back on the spot to avoid instrument mortality. 100% return rate was realized from the instrument. Data were collected and collated using simple percentage, mean and standard deviation. The data collected were rated using 5 points Likert scale with the criterion mean of 3 was used to interpret the result. The findings of the study revealed that perception of mothers on factors that can predispose adolescent to teenage pregnancy include desire for wealth and other material things, sexual permissiveness in the society, influx of pornography among others. Consequences of teenage pregnancy include emotional instability, complication during delivery and reproductive health problems among others. Strategies to reduce incidence of teenage pregnancy include massive public campaign and availability of family planning services. Appropriate preventive interventions are suggested to modify the risk factors.