Perceived environmental risk as a predictor of teenage motherhood in a British population.
Previous studies have shown that strong relationships exist between deprived environments and teenage motherhood. However, such studies have predominantly identified deprivation using neighbourhood-wide measures of socio-economic status. Few studies of teenage parenthood have examined how individuals perceive their environment and the importance of this perception on reproductive behaviour and timing. Using data collected from a sample of women living the county of Gloucestershire, UK, this paper explores the predictive value of two methods of assessing the environment: (1) the structural component-deprivation at the neighbourhood level and (2) the individual's subjective experience of her pre-pregnancy environment, when examining how the wider environmental context can influence the decision of becoming a teenage mother. The results indicate that a woman's perception of her neighbourhood of residence at the time she conceived, her perceived environmental risk, may be a more discriminating predictor of teenage motherhood than deprivation measured by ward economic and deprivation indicators.
Johns
Sarah E
SE
School of Anthropology and Conservation, Marlowe Building, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NR, UK. s.e.johns@kent.ac.uk
D000293:Adolescent; D001290:Attitude; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010465:Perception; D011204:Poverty Areas; D011247:Pregnancy; D011253:Pregnancy in Adolescence / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires