Relationship of Parent and Peer Attachment with Coping Strategy among Teenagers Pregnancy

Abstract

With teenagers becoming more sexually active, teen mums are on the rise, as over 18,000 cases of girls under 19 were recorded in 2011. The aim of this study was to address the issue of teenager's attachment to parent, attachment to peer and coping strategy. To obtain Teenage Pregnancy Profile, this study used a questionnaire comprising three psychological measurements: (1) Parent and Peer Attachment Inventory, (2) Coping Strategy Inventory, and (3) Guilt and Shame Proneness Scale. This study attempted to identify the relationship of parent and peers attachment as well as feeling of guilt and shame with coping strategies utilized by pregnant teenagers. Respondents in this study comprised 75 pregnant girls (age between 12 and 18) from four rehabilitation centres. Most (27 respondents, 75%) of them declared that they had first sexual experience and became pregnant at the age of 12 to 15 years old. Pearson's correlation indicated the strength of the associations among parent and peer attachment and coping strategies of the respondents. The results found a weak positive correlation (r=.32) between parent attachment with peer attachment followed by peer attachment with social focus coping strategy (r=.30). The inter-correlation between sub-scales of Guilt and Shame Proneness Scale was significant and positive ranging from r=.42 to r=.57.The study suggests the need to design a prevention and rehabilitation program targeting high-risk group teenagers. Teenagers need to develop positive self-respect and self-esteem as well as coping strategy through assertive training. This study addresses the limitation of data collection from rehabilitation centres under the provision of Social Welfare Department. Future study should also include qualitative approach to gain an in-depth understanding of how teenage pregnant girls develop positive coping strategies in the process of recovering.