| Personal and family attributes of pregnant teenagers: findings from a community-based study in Sri Lanka. | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 23337047 Owner: NLM Status: Publisher |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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Abstract Background: Teenage pregnancies are associated with negative outcomes. Prevention requires understanding them and their families. Objectives: 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. |
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Authors:
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Dulitha N Fernando; Nalika S Gunawardena; Manuj Chrishantha Weerasinghe |
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Publication Detail:
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Type: JOURNAL ARTICLE Date: 2013-1-22 |
Journal Detail:
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Title: International journal of adolescent medicine and health Volume: - ISSN: 0334-0139 ISO Abbreviation: Int J Adolesc Med Health Publication Date: 2013 Jan |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 2013-1-22 Completed Date: - Revised Date: - |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 8506960 Medline TA: Int J Adolesc Med Health Country: - |
Other Details:
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Languages: ENG Pagination: 1-9 Citation Subset: - |
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From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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