Abstract
BackgroundRisk factors for teenage pregnancy are linked to many factors, including a family history of teenage pregnancy. This research examines whether a mother’s teenage childbearing or an older sister’s teenage pregnancy more strongly predicts teenage pregnancy.MethodsThis study used linkable administrative databases housed at the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy (MCHP). The original cohort consisted of 17,115 women born in Manitoba between April 1, 1979 and March 31, 1994, who stayed in the province until at least their 20th birthday, had at least one older sister, and had no missing values on key variables. Propensity score matching (1:2) was used to create balanced cohorts for two conditional logistic regression models; one examining the impact of an older sister’s teenage pregnancy and the other analyzing the effect of the mother’s teenage childbearing.ResultsThe adjusted odds of becoming pregnant between ages 14 and 19 for teens with at least one older sister having a teenage pregnancy were 3.38 (99 % CI 2.77–4.13) times higher than for women whose older sister(s) did not have a teenage pregnancy. Teenage daughters of mothers who had their first child before age 20 had 1.57 (99 % CI 1.30–1.89) times higher odds of pregnancy than those whose mothers had their first child after age 19. Educational achievement was adjusted for in a sub-population examining the odds of pregnancy between ages 16 and 19. After this adjustment, the odds of teenage pregnancy for teens with at least one older sister who had a teenage pregnancy were reduced to 2.48 (99 % CI 2.01–3.06) and the odds of pregnancy for teen daughters of teenage mothers were reduced to 1.39 (99 % CI 1.15–1.68).ConclusionAlthough both were significant, the relationship between an older sister’s teenage pregnancy and a younger sister’s teenage pregnancy is much stronger than that between a mother’s teenage childbearing and a younger daughter’s teenage pregnancy. This study contributes to understanding of the broader topic “who is influential about what” within the family.
Highlights
Risk factors for teenage pregnancy are linked to many factors, including a family history of teenage pregnancy
Studies consistently indicate that girls with a familial history of teenage childbearing are at much higher risk of teenage pregnancy and childbearing themselves, but methodological complexities have resulted in inconsistent findings around “parent/child sexual communication and adolescent pregnancy risk” [10]
By controlling for a variety of social and biological factors, and the use of a strong statistical design—propensity score matching with a large population-based dataset—this study aims to determine whether teenage pregnancy is more strongly predicted by having an older sister who had a teenage pregnancy or by having a mother who bore her first child before age 20
Summary
Risk factors for teenage pregnancy are linked to many factors, including a family history of teenage pregnancy. Having an older sister who was a teen mom significantly increases the risk of teenage childbearing in the younger sister and daughters of teenage mothers were significantly more likely to become teenage mothers themselves [8, 9] Girls having both a mother and older sister who had teenage births experienced the highest odds of teenage pregnancy, with one study reporting an odds ratio of 5.1 (compared with those who had no history of family teenage pregnancy) [5]. Studies consistently indicate that girls with a familial history of teenage childbearing are at much higher risk of teenage pregnancy and childbearing themselves, but methodological complexities have resulted in inconsistent findings around “parent/child sexual communication and adolescent pregnancy risk” [10]. Research around the impact of sister’s teenage pregnancy has been limited to mostly qualitative studies using small samples of minority adolescents in the United States [5, 11]
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