Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Behavior in Indonesia: Internal and External Factors Influencing

BACKGROUND: The reasons behind teenage pregnancy and marriage in Indonesia are the lack of life skills and low self-efficacy. Teenagers with a lack of life skills are more likely to be influenced by their peers, in this case, to have sex before marriage. Teenage pregnancy often leads to a high rate of maternal and infant mortality and high-risk infants. AIM: This study aimed to identify internal and external factors influencing adolescent pregnancy prevention behavior. METHODS: This quantitative study with a cross-sectional design recruited 398 adolescents using a multistage sampling technique. Chi-square test and logistic regression test were employed with p < 0.05. RESULTS: The odds ratio (OR) value from the exponent β with confidence interval 95%. More than half of respondents (64%) have behavior that might lead to teenage pregnancy, with both male and female respondents having equal risk (p = 0.920). Variables of knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy, life skills, and peer influence were associated with adolescent pregnancy prevention behavior as all of them have a p = 0.000. Moreover, peers were found to be the most influential variable of teenage pregnancy prevention behavior with the OR value of 3.84, the highest among other variables which meant adolescents receiving negative influence from their peers are 3.84 times more likely to conceive at a young age. Peers become the most dominant factor in determining adolescent behavior in preventing pregnancy. CONCLUSION: Among the variables related to prevention behavior, peers were found to be the one that will primarily determine adolescent behavior in terms of pregnancy prevention.