title: Pre-teen literacy and subsequent teenage childbearing in a US population.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  While literacy is a key factor in health across the life course, the association of literacy and teenage childbearing has not been assessed in the US.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective cohort study using standardized reading data from 12,339 girls in the seventh grade in the 1996-97 or 1997-98 academic years of the Philadelphia Public School System linked to birth records from the city of Philadelphia (1996-2002).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Less than average reading skill was independently associated with two and a half times the risk of teen childbearing than average reading skill (aHR 2.51, 95% CI: 1.67-3.77). Above average reading skill was associated with less risk (aHR 0.27, 95% CI 0.17-0.44). A significant interaction (p<.05) between reading skill and race/ethnicity indicated that Hispanic and African American girls had greater risk of teen-childbearing by literacy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Literacy strongly predicts risk of teenage childbearing independent of confounders. The effects of literacy were stronger among girls with Hispanic or African American race/ethnicity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. ibennett@mail.med.upenn.edu
authors.forename: Ian M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Bennett
authors.forename: Rosemary
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Frasso
authors.forename: Scarlett L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Bellamy
authors.forename: Stanton
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wortham
authors.forename: Kennen S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Gross
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015143:Philadelphia / Q000453:epidemiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011253:Pregnancy in Adolescence / Q000208:ethnology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011932:Reading