The Sociocultural Context of Mexican-Origin Pregnant Adolescents’ Attitudes Toward Teen Pregnancy and Links to Future Outcomes

• Published in: Journal of youth and adolescence Vol. 45; no. 5; pp. 887 - 899
• Main Authors: Killoren, Sarah E., Zeiders, Katharine H., Updegraff, Kimberly A., Umaña-Taylor, Adriana J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.05.2016; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Acculturation; Adolescent; Adolescent mothers; Adolescents; Attitude - ethnology; Attitudes; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Birth rate; Child and School Psychology; Child development; Childrearing practices; Clinical Psychology; Cultural values; Culture; Economic indicators; Educational Attainment; Educational Finance; Empirical Research; Family income; Female; Future; Gender; Health Psychology; Hispanic Americans; History of Psychology; Humans; Income; Law and Psychology; Longitudinal Studies; Low income groups; Mexican Americans; Mexico; Minority & ethnic groups; Mothers; Mothers - psychology; Outcomes of Education; Parenting - psychology; Pregnancy; Pregnancy in Adolescence - ethnology; Pregnancy in Adolescence - psychology; Psychology; Risk; Sanford, T Denny; Sociocultural factors; Socioeconomic Factors; Teenage parents; Teenage pregnancy; United States > US; Arizona; Missouri; Adolescence; Mexican-American; Teen pregnancy; Cultural context
• ISSN: 0047-2891; 1573-6601
• DOI: 10.1007/s10964-015-0387-9

Given the negative developmental risks associated with adolescent motherhood, it is important to examine the sociocultural context of adolescent mothers’ lives to identify those most at risk for poor outcomes. Our goals were to identify profiles of Mexican-origin pregnant adolescents’ cultural orientations and their attitudes toward teen pregnancy, and to investigate how these profiles were linked to adolescents’ pregnancy intentions, family resources, and short-term family, educational, and parenting outcomes. With a sample of 205 Mexican-origin adolescent mothers, we identified three profiles based on cultural orientations and attitudes toward teen pregnancy: Bicultural - Moderate Attitudes , Acculturated - Moderate Attitudes , and Enculturated - Low Attitudes . The results indicated that enculturated pregnant adolescents had the least favorable attitudes toward teen pregnancy, and the lowest levels of family income, pregnancy intentions, pregnancy support, and educational expectations compared to acculturated and bicultural pregnant adolescents; acculturated adolescents (with the highest family income and high levels of pregnancy support) had the highest levels of parenting efficacy 10 months postpartum. Our findings suggest that enculturated adolescent mothers (with less positive attitudes toward teen pregnancy) may benefit from educational support programs and enculturated and bicultural adolescent mothers (with moderately positive attitudes toward teen pregnancy) may benefit from programs to increase parenting efficacy. Such targeted interventions may, in turn, reduce the likelihood of adolescent mothers experiencing negative educational and parenting outcomes.