title: The association between prepregnancy parental support and control and adolescent girls' pregnancy resolution decisions.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the influence of prepregnancy parental support and control on adolescent girls' pregnancy resolution decisions.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health were analyzed. Girls whose first pregnancy reported in wave IV occurred after wave I and before age 20 were included (n = 1,107). Participants self-reported pregnancy disposition (abortion, ectopic or tubal pregnancy, miscarriage, stillbirth, live birth) for each pregnancy; responses were dichotomized as abortion versus other. Girls' perceptions of parental support and control were measured at wave I. Controls were included for wave I age, age at pregnancy, year at the end of pregnancy, race/ethnicity, and parent characteristics (i.e., education, religious affiliation, age at first marriage, and educational expectations). Weighted multivariable logistic regression models were performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Approximately 18% of girls reporting a teen pregnancy reported having an abortion. In crude analyses, parental support was marginally negatively related to abortion (odds ratio [OR] = .83, p = .06) and parental control was significantly negatively related to abortion (OR = .78, p = .02). In multivariable analyses, higher parental control was significantly negatively related to abortion versus other pregnancy outcomes (adjusted OR .80, 95% confidence interval .66-.98). Perceived parental support was unassociated with pregnancy resolution decisions. The only other factor associated with abortion decisions was parent education: odds of choosing abortion versus other pregnancy outcomes were significantly higher for adolescent girls whose parents had a bachelor's degree or greater versus those with lower educational attainment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pregnant adolescents with less educated parents or parents exercising greater control were less likely to have an abortion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Global Community Health and Behavioral Sciences, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA. aspriggs@tulane.edu
authors.forename: Aubrey Spriggs
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Madkour
authors.forename: Yiqiong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Emily W
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Harville
mesh_terms: D000028:Abortion, Induced / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000293:Adolescent; D003657:Decision Making; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D063588:National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D011253:Pregnancy in Adolescence; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Abortion; Adolescent pregnancy; Parent control; Parent support