Teen Fathers: Our Hidden Patients

Abstract

CURRENT ISSUES IN NP PRACTICE Christine Berte, EdD, APRN-BC “Do you have any children?” This question is an accepted part of a patient’s social history. But, at what age do we begin asking? And who do you ask this question? Teen mothers become apparent through objective physical changes, and have many support systems offered to them as a result of public policies and service programs. However, what about our patients who are teen fathers? They display no outward physical signs associated with pregnancy and parenting, yet have a myriad of complex issues that impact both their day-to-day function and their long-term development. They are invisible to providers and society. Kiseliea and Kiseliea report approximately 180,000 male adolescents father a child annually in the United States. The teen birth rate in the United States remains among the highest in Western industrialized nations, more than 3 times the rate in Canada and nearly 7 times the rate in Sweden. These adolescent parents, most of whom are unmarried, present with behaviors that put them at risk for a variety of health, social, and economic issues. The demographics most prevalent in the prediction of teen fathers include poverty, involvement in gang activity, illegal behavior, poor school performance or dropping out of school, and substance use. Other psychosocial issues include past history of physical or sexual abuse, a disconnect or troubled relationship with 1 or both parents, psychiatric illness, and a family that has gone through many transitions of structure along with poor supervision of the teen’s activities. Being an adolescent parent makes overcoming the constraints of poverty and incomplete education much more difficult. Adolescent fathers must transition quickly into adulthood. They need services that will enable them to become involved, responsible parents while continuing their progress toward their own future goals, with the first one usually graduation from high school.