Unintended Pregnancy among Teenagers: Important Roles for Primary Care Providers
Authors: Jonathan E. Fielding, Carolyn A. Williams
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (1991)

Editorials1 April 1991Unintended Pregnancy among Teenagers: Important Roles for Primary Care ProvidersJonathan E. Fielding, MD, MPH, Carolyn A. Williams, RN, PhDJonathan E. Fielding, MD, MPHSearch for more papers by this author, Carolyn A. Williams, RN, PhDSearch for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-114-7-599 SectionsAboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail ExcerptPrimary care clinicians, including internists and other physicians, are faced with few prevention opportunities as compelling as helping teenage patients to avoid unwanted pregnancy. In the United States, approximately one million teenage girls become pregnant each year, and most of these pregnancies are unintended (1). More than 40% of these young women obtain abortions, and about 38% of those who give birth are 17 years of age or younger (2). Between 1960 and 1986, the percentage of adolescent mothers who were unmarried when they gave birth increased from 15% to more than 60% (2, 3). The majority of families with...References1. . Panel on Adolescent Pregnancy and Childbearing. Hayes CD ed. Risking the Future: Adolescent Sexuality, Pregnancy, and Childbearing. v. 1. Washington, DC: National Academy Press; 1987. Google Scholar2. McCarthyMenken JJ. Marriage, remarriage, marital disruption and age at first birth. Fam Plann Perspect. 1979;11:21-3, 27-30. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. BillyLandaleMcLaughlin JNS. The effect of marital status at first birth on marital dissolution among adolescent mothers. Demography. 1986;23:329-49. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. MooreWaite KL. Early childbearing and educational attainment. Fam Plann Perspect. 1977;9:220-5. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar5. MottMarsiglio FW. Early childbearing and completion of high school. Fam Plann Perspect. 1985;17:234-7. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar6. Marsiglio W. Adolescent fathers in the United States: their initial living arrangements, marital experience and educational outcomes. Fam Plann Perspect. 1987;19:240-51. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar7. HardyDuggan JA. Teenage fathers and the fathers of infants of urban, teenage mothers. Am J Public Health. 1988;78:919-22. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar8. CardWise JL. Teenage mothers and teenage fathers: the impact of early childbearing on the parents' personal and professional lives. Fam Plann Perspect. 1978;10:199-205. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar9. SadlerCatrone LC. The adolescent parent: a dual developmental crisis. J Adolesc Health Care. 1983;4:100-5. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar10. SpivakWeitzman HM. Social barriers faced by adolescent parents and their children. JAMA. 1987;258:1500-4. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar11. American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Adolescence: care of adolescent parents and their children. Pediatrics. 1989;83:138-40. MedlineGoogle Scholar12. FurstenbergBrooks-GunnChase-Lansdale FJL. Teenaged pregnancy and childbearing. Am Psychol. 1989;44:313-20. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar13. MottMaxwell FN. School-age mothers: 1968 and 1979. Fam Plann Perspect. 1981;13:287-92. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar14. Bachrach C. Contraceptive practice among American women, 1973-1982. Fam Plann Perspect. 1984;16:253-9. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar15. ZabinKantnerZelnik LJM. The risk of adolescent pregnancy in the first months of intercourse. Fam Plann Perspect. 1979; 11:215-22. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar16. KoenigZelnik MM. The risk of premarital first pregnancy among metropolitan-area teenagers: 1976 and 1979. Fam Plann Perspect. 1982;14:239-41, 243-7. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar17. Teenage Pregnancy in Industrialized Countries. New Haven: Yale University Press; 1986. Google Scholar18. FieldingWilliams JC. Unwanted teenage pregnancy: a U.S. perspective. In: Goldbloom RB, Lawrence RS, eds. Preventing Disease: Beyond the Rhetoric. New York: Springer-Verlag; 1990:94-100. Google Scholar19. EdwardsSteinmanArnoldHakanson LMKE. Adolescent pregnancy prevention services in high school clinics. Fam Plann Perspect. 1980;12:6-7, 11-4. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar20. ZabinHirschSmithStreettHardy LMERJ. Evaluation of a pregnancy prevention program for urban teenagers. Fam Plann Perspect. 1986;18:119-26. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar This content is PDF only. To continue reading please click on the PDF icon. Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Metrics Cited BySexual Health Knowledge of Students at a High School in Nova ScotiaCounseling youths about firearmsAdolescent pregnancy: An intervention challengeSuccesses and perspectives in the creation of therapeutic preparations based on ascorbic acid (review)Contraception for TeenagersRobert J. Woolley, MDTeenage PregnancyJohn W. Burnside, MD 1 April 1991Volume 114, Issue 7Page: 599-601KeywordsAdolescentsBirthPregnancy Issue Published: 1 April 1991 PDF DownloadLoading ...