Premium
Untangling the Health Disparities of Teen Pregnancy
Author(s) -
Talashek Marie L.,
Alba Melinda L.,
Patel Angira
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal for specialists in pediatric nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.499
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1744-6155
pISSN - 1539-0136
DOI - 10.1111/j.1744-6155.2006.00040.x
Subject(s) - ethnic group , pregnancy , maturity (psychological) , demography , teen pregnancy , cohort , inner city , psychology , medicine , developmental psychology , cohort study , reproductive health , gerontology , environmental health , population , geography , sociology , biology , genetics , economic geography , pathology , anthropology
PURPOSE. The purpose of this secondary analysis is to determine whether a developmental maturity model differentially predicts pregnancy for African American, Puerto Rican, and Mexican inner‐city teens.DESIGN AND METHODS. This is a secondary analysis of data from a case control study that tested a model of developmental maturity and teen pregnancy with 183 pregnant and never‐pregnant pairs of inner‐city teens matched on age, ethnicity, and freshman cohort.RESULTS. The models differentially predict pregnancy for the separate ethnic groups, with sexual behaviors being the most important factors regardless of ethnicity.PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS. The health disparities of teen pregnancies may not decrease unless patterns of dating/sexual behaviors are reversed.