NCJ Number
117071
Editor(s)
M C McClellan
Date Published
1987
Length
282 pages
Annotation
This volume provides a general perspective on the problem of adolescent pregnancy, an understanding of the teenagers who are most vulnerable, an awareness of the nature of the consequences resulting from an illegitimate pregnancy, and an opportunity to examine programs that have been tried in various communities.
Abstract
Articles have been selected from a wide range of materials because of their potential to contribute to an improved understanding of teenage pregnancy. Section one presents a current perspective on the problem and provides information that can be used to compare American data to that of other developed countries. Included in this section is a summary of related research done in the 1970's. Information about the characteristics of pregnant teenagers and their knowledge of reproduction, contraception, and child development is included in sections two and three. A variety of consequences are associated with adolescent pregnancy. Physical and mental health problems for mothers and their babies as well as financial problems of parents who have often sacrificed their educations to bear and raise children are described in section four. Also included is a review of research on the adolescent father, a neglected research area. Section five, educational programs, provides descriptive and evaluative information about several different kinds of programs that have been developed to educate teenagers about the effects of sexual activity. Both community and school-based programs are included. For individual articles, see NCJ 117072-90.