Correlates of adolescent pregnancy in La Paz, Bolivia: findings from a quantitative-qualitative study.
Recent data indicate that nearly one in three Bolivian adolescent females becomes pregnant prior to reaching age twenty. This article presents the results of a study undertaken to address the question of why some female adolescents in La Paz, Bolivia, become pregnant while others in similar circumstances avoid early pregnancy. The study utilized mixed qualitative-quantitative methods based on a case-control design. Among the potential explanatory factors considered were family structure, parental relationships, partner relationships, knowledge of pregnancy risks, self-esteem, and locus of control. Significant differences between girls experiencing a pregnancy and those who had not were observed on two of the six factors considered-relationships with parents and self-esteem. Girls who had experienced a pregnancy were less likely to have reported affectionate and supportive parents, more likely to have reported fighting in their home, and exhibited lower levels of self-esteem than those who had never been pregnant. Focus-group discussions suggested that adolescent females in La Paz lack trustworthy support networks that would empower them to seek information regarding sex and contraception and to act upon such information.
Lipovsek
Varja
V
Tulane University Medical Center, School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine, Department of International Health & Development, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112, USA. vlipovs@tulane.edu
Karim
Ali Mehryar
AM
Gutiérrez
Emily Zielinski
EZ
Magnani
Robert J
RJ
Castro Gomez
Maria del Carmen
Mdel C
D000293:Adolescent; D001838:Bolivia; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D016015:Logistic Models; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D011247:Pregnancy; D011253:Pregnancy in Adolescence / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012649:Self Concept; D012747:Sexual Partners / Q000523:psychology; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric