The Influence of Open‐Mindedness and Knowledge on Attitudes Toward Teen Pregnancy Among Family and Consumer Sciences Teachers

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of knowledge about teenage pregnancy/parenting and open‐mindedness on the attitudes offamily and consumer sciences (FCS) teachers toward teenage pregnancy/parenting. A simple random sample of 200 FCS teachers in Louisiana was selected from the population. Data were collected by mailed questionnaire. Multiple regression analysis was used to identify a model that explained 26.4% of the variance in teachers' attitudes. Variables that contributed significantly to the model included open‐mindedness! dogmatism, number of pregnant teens taught, number of in‐service programs attended, age, whether teacher was married, and whether teacher was widowed. The hypotheses that teachers with higher knowledge scores and higher levels of open‐mindedness would have more positive attitudes were supported. Conclusions serve to validate FCS programs. Recommendations for improvement of programs andforfuture research are identified.