Avoiding Adolescent Pregnancy: A Longitudinal Analysis of African-American Youth

作者：Kogan Steven M^*; Cho Junhan; Allen Kimberly; Lei Man Kit; Beach Steven R H; Gibbons Frederick X; Simons Leslie G; Simons Ronald L; Brody Gene H

来源：Journal of Adolescent Health, 2013, 53(1): 14-20.

DOI：10.1016/j.jadohealth.2013.01.024

• Pregnancy in adolescence
• African-Americans
• Adolescent development
• Health behavior

Purpose: The timing and social context of pregnancy have significant implications for the well-being of African-American young people. Rarely, however, do studies focus on identifying the developmental processes associated with young people%26apos;s avoidance of pregnancy until after adolescence. %26lt;br%26gt;Methods: We tested hypotheses regarding the factors associated with delayed fertility (no experience of a pregnancy by age 19) among a sample of 889 African-American youth recruited at age 11 and assessed longitudinally through age 19. We hypothesized that, during preadolescence (age 11), health-promoting environmental processes would be linked to nurturant-responsive parenting, which in turn would be linked to youths%26apos; conventional future orientations and risky sexual behavior in midadolescence (age 16) and to pregnancy experience by late adolescence (age 19). Hypotheses were tested with logistic structural equation modeling. %26lt;br%26gt;Results: Our conceptual model fit the data well. We identified a cascade process whereby protective environments were associated with nurturant-responsive parenting, which was associated with youths%26apos; conventional future orientations; conventional future orientations were associated with avoidance of sexual risk behaviors at age 16 and avoidance of pregnancy by age 19. We identified an additional direct effect between nurturant-responsive parenting and avoidance of risky sexual behavior. %26lt;br%26gt;Conclusions: The results suggest processes that may be targeted to facilitate delayed fertility among African-American youth.

• 出版日期2013-7