Pregnancy and motherhood among Mexican American adolescents.

Abstract

The influence of acculturation among Mexican American adolescents was examined in reference to attitudes toward pregnancy and motherhood, contraceptive and reproductive knowledge, and the role of family and peers both as behavioral models and as support networks. Data were collected by administering questionnaires to 122 adolescent participants of the Los Angeles County Supplementary Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children. The adolescents were either pregnant or had given birth to a child during the previous 12 month, 2 age cohorts were analyzed. 61 teenagers werein the 13-17 year cohort, and 61 were in the 18-20 year cohort. Each cohort was further subdivided into the 3 categories of less accultured Mexican Americans more acculturated Mexican Americans, and white non-Hispanics. Respondent's predominant use of either Spanish or English was usedto categorize by acculturation level. The 6 subgroups resulting from the age and cultural classifications were compared with reference to demographic characteristics, social networks, contraceptive knowledge and usage, and fertility knowledge. Most of the adolescents in each subgroup lived inhouseholds with annual incomes of less than US $5500, but the proportion of less acculturated Mexican Americans, aged 13-17, living in low income households was higher (82.4%) than for the other subgroups. The less acculturated Mexican Americans in both age groups were more likely to follow the Mexican tradition of marrying if a pregnancy occurred. The percentage among the less acculturated group was 47.4% for those aged 13-17 and 85.0% for those aged 18-20. Respective proportions were 22.7% and 61.9% for the more acculturated group and 0.0% and 45.0% for the non-)hispanic group. Less acculturated Mexican Americans were more likely to discontinue their schooling when they became pregnant than other adolescents. Adolescents in all subgroups tended to come from families which exerted little parental control over adolescent dating behavior. Most of the adolescents in each subgroup relied most heavily on their mothers for emotional support; however, the less acculturated adolescents relied less heavily on their mothers because their mothers frequently resided in Mexico. The less acculturated teenagers relied much less on peers for support than the other subgroups and were somewhat isolated from peer contact. The more acculturated Mexican Americans exhibited a number of traits indicative of adolescents in conflict. They were more knowledgeable about reproduction than other subgroups, but they were less likely to use contraceptives than the other groups. They were also more likely to reject parental guidelines and to have a higher proportion of unplanned pregnancies than the other groups. Findings indicate that acculturation levels should be taken into account in counseling Mexican American adolescents. For less acculturated teenagers, efforts should be made to create a support network of peers and family substitutes. More acculturated teenagers need greater access to contraceptives, and social workers should encourage the members of the adolescent's social network to provide additional support and understanding.