A hearing before the Subcommittee on Select Education of the House Committee on Education and Labor is transcribed. A discussion is presented which centers on H.R.12146, whose purposes are: (1) to establish a program for developing networks of community-based services to prevent initial and repeat pregnancies among adolescents; (2) to provide care…

An exhaustive analytic review of large bodies of research indicates that rates of premarital intercourse among teenagers have risen sharply since 1966. This is particularly true for white females, for whom the rate is probably about three times that of the 1920's thru the mid-1960's; for white males the rate seems to have risen about 50%. By age…

Concerned with teen-aged pregnancy, the text includes discussions of premarital pregnancy, the pregnant teen as a member of the poor, as nonwhite, and as a teen-ager, obstetrical concepts, pregnancy results, factors which influence medical prognosis, and solutions to minimize medical risk. Additional areas of concern are a research review and a…

There is a high correlation between adolescent women's educational skills, goals, and family income and the likelihood of pregnancy. Schools have a statutory duty to provide health instruction; this may include pregnancy-prevention programs. Includes discussion of Acquired Immune Defficiency Syndrom (AIDS) and school responsibility for educational…

Out-of-wedlock birth rates have not fallen much at all among teenagers. New analyses of existing data sets indicate that becoming an out-of-wedlock parent is a process with three stages: commencement of sexual activity; conception among the sexually active; and pregnancy outcome among those who conceive. Public policy variables such as AFDC…

Used data from High School and Beyond Survey to examine impact of knowledge and attitudes on teenage out-of-wedlock childbearing among approximately 10,000 female high school sophomores. Found that sexual knowledge had no effect on chances of respondents having out-of-wedlock children, family values stressing responsibility significantly reduced…

The author discusses the characteristics and feelings of women undergoing abortion. She mentions the decisions which counselors must help such women face, the information they must be given, and the types of support they need. Increased counseling services are needed, she feels, for the markedly increased number of women seeking abortions. (EK)

Current research on adolescent fertility indicates that illegitimacy is becoming concentrated in the teenage and even preteen years. Increasing sexual activity, lack of contraceptive information and techniques, and a desired pregnancy are possible explanations. Some of the problems faced by adolescent mothers include more complicated pregnancies,…

This program seeks to prevent adolescent pregnancy and childbearing through a community-based feminist social service program serving teenage girls. This DAWN program, Discovery and Awareness for Women Now, was initiated as a result of the Women's Movement which has had a serious and positive impact on the lives of most adult women. Yet, teenage…

Unwed pregnancy in young women was conceptualized as a motivated goal interactively determined by both personality and situational factors. The primary behavioral correlate indicative of this predisposition is inadequate use of readily available birth control techniques (B.C.) for the sexually active female. In addition, sex frequency and the…

Nonmarital intercourse among teenagers rose during the early 1970s. Biological, social, and psychological variables are associated with both early nonmarital coitus and contraceptive behaviors; effects of adolescent childbearing tend to be minor when appropriate statistical techniques are used to control for the impact of socioeconomic status and…

This digest reviews trends in adolescent sexual activity and discusses conceptual and programmatic approaches to pregnancy prevention. It discusses a pregnant adolescent's choices for resolving an unplanned pregnancy (i.e. abortion, adoption, keeping the baby, and marriage), and the challenges faced by teenage parents. The final section touches on…

Study examined perceptions of pregnancy, including life-expectations, desire for pregnancy, and knowledge of menstrual cycle in a sample of pregnant urban adolescents. Results indicate that, although teens were aware of birth control methods, they had little understanding of menstrual cycle and its relationship to intercourse. And while few…

Examines data surrounding issues related to educational attitudes and attainment and teenage pregnancy, nonmarital births, and child poverty. Addresses proximate and root causes of rising U.S. rates of teenage pregnancy, correlations between nonmarital births and educational and occupational expectations, and educational and economic consequences.…