title: Personal and family attributes of pregnant teenagers: findings from a community-based study in Sri Lanka.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Teenage pregnancies are associated with negative outcomes. Prevention requires understanding them and their families.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to describe personal and family attributes of pregnant teenagers in Sri Lanka.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a community-based study in Sri Lanka among 510 pregnant teenagers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Half (50%) of the subjects were 19 years of age at the time of pregnancy. A majority (79.8%) had studied up to grades 6-11. Confidence in decision-making (80.7%) and in refusing unnecessary requests (88.3%) was "excellent" in a majority. Mean age of marriage/co-habiting was 17.6 years. For 31%, marriage/cohabiting was a sudden decision taken jointly with their partner (81.6%) and 83% reported being "legally" married. Substantial proportions of mothers (17.6%) and fathers (13.9%) had not attended school, and 33.1% mothers had worked abroad. Teenagers reported the death of a parent (14.1%), parental separation (10.9%) and being brought up by relatives (20%). Only a few rated strictness of rules/regulations (32.4%), freedom to discuss problems regarding puberty (25.5%), love affairs (12.7%) and sexuality (26.7%) as excellent/good. Of the spouses, 12.9% were <20 years, 71.9% had low education and 98.8% were employed. A majority had "planned" the pregnancy, and for 79.8%, the reason was "husband's wish to have a baby".
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pregnant teenagers were mostly in their late teens, from poor families and with low formal education. Though teenagers showed confidence in decision-making, the decision to have a pregnancy had mostly been their spouses. Parents and spouses of the teenagers were also young, less educated and poor. There was evidence of poor parenting practices.
authors: Dulitha N
authors: DN
authors: Fernando
authors: Nalika S
authors: NS
authors: Gunawardena
authors: Manuj Chrishantha
authors: MC
authors: Weerasinghe
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016487:Parenting; D010290:Parents; D011247:Pregnancy; D011253:Pregnancy in Adolescence / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012649:Self Concept; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013188:Sri Lanka / Q000453:epidemiology