Preventing Teen Pregnancy: A Qualitative Study of the Perspectives of Parenting and Expecting Latino Adolescents

Abstract

Latino youths in the US experience disproportionately high rates of teen pregnancy. The study aim was to obtain expecting and parenting Latino adolescents' perspectives regarding factors contributing to teen pregnancy and pregnancy prevention. Expecting/parenting Latino adolescents were recruited from high schools with high proportions of Latino youths and teen pregnancy. Participants completed a questionnaire on sociodemographic and background characteristics. Focus groups were stratified by age and gender and audio-recorded. Grounded theory was used to identify themes from the transcribed audio recordings. Thirty-two expecting/parenting Latino adolescents (20 females, 12 males) 14 to 19 years old participated in four focus groups. Quantitative results revealed that 2/3 of participants at birth had adolescent mothers. Over ¾ of participants reported their pregnancies had occurred too soon. Qualitative themes for factors contributing to teen pregnancy included lack of contraceptive knowledge/access, belief of invincibility, influence within relationships, male decisions on contraceptive use, desire to belong among peers, lack of parental support for contraceptive use, lack of parental attention, rebellion, normalization of adolescent parenthood in Latino culture, and media. Themes for pregnancy-prevention include time alone with physicians, parenting teens as mentors, and reproductive health education, and community pregnancy-prevention programs. Multiple factors contribute to teen pregnancy in Latino youth, including influences from Latino culture, family, peers, partners, and social determinants of health. Pregnancy prevention should incorporate interventions to address these aspects, including disseminating culturally sensitive education materials, providing parenting teens as peer mentors, encouraging time alone with healthcare providers, and addressing various social determinants of health.