Predicting risk for pregnancy by late adolescence: a social contextual perspective.
To evaluate a model of social contextual influences on risk for adolescent pregnancy, 368 target adolescents (52% female, 48% male) and their mothers, fathers, and closest age siblings were assessed 6 times over a 7-year period beginning when the target adolescents were in 7th grade. Two pathways were found to increase risk for involvement in a pregnancy by late adolescence. Middle adolescent risk-taking behavior mediated the influence of early adolescent parental warmth-involvement and deviant-peer affiliations on involvement in a pregnancy by 12th grade. Also, early adolescent academic competence mediated the relationship between parental warmth-involvement and involvement in a pregnancy by 12th grade. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.
Scaramella
L V
LV
Institute for Social and Behavioral Research, Iowa State University, Ames 50010, USA. lauras@iastate.edu
Conger
R D
RD
Simons
R L
RL
Whitbeck
L B
LB
D000293:Adolescent; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016901:Intergenerational Relations; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011253:Pregnancy in Adolescence / Q000523:psychology*; D012309:Risk-Taking