Closeness with Parents and Perceived Consequences of Pregnancy Among Male and Female Adolescents

Abstract

Using the 1994–1995 National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we examine the association between closeness with parents and teen beliefs regarding the consequences of pregnancy. Unlike previous studies in this area, we include measures of closeness to both mother and father and examine effects for both male and female adolescents by family type (two-biological- or two-adoptive-parent, stepfather, and single-mother families). Our findings indicate that parental closeness is most salient for boys living with two biological or adoptive parents. For girls living with two biological or adoptive parents and boys and girls living in stepfather families, controlling for other aspects of the parent-child relationship, as well as adolescent, socioeconomic, and demographic characteristics, eliminates the protective influence of closeness to parents. For teens living in single-mother families, closeness with mother has no effect on beliefs about the consequences of pregnancy. Overall, our findings indicate that it is teen beliefs regarding parental viewpoints on educational achievement and engagement in sexual activity, rather than closeness per se, that has the link to adolescent beliefs about the consequences of pregnancy.