A prospective study of adolescent pregnancy

This study examined prospectively the characteristics contributing to adolescent pregnancy in a pregnant (n=452) and comparison (n=373) group of adolescents. The participants were 15-19-year-old Black and White females in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. The variables included race, self-esteem, age-related risks, delinquency history, aspirations and expectations Using regression analyses, adolescent pregnancy in Blacks was predicted by approval of delaying a family and pursuing a career, aspirations of working, and lower educational expectations. Pregnancy in White adolescents was predicted by higher educational wishes, lower educational expectations, desiring more children, and having sex younger. Implications and recommendations are discussed.

Protective factors and young adolescent tendency to abstain from alcohol use: a model using two waves of intervention study data

Two waves of data from a family-focused preventive intervention project were used to test a model of the influence of protective factors on young adolescents' tendency toward alcohol abstinence. Prior theoretical and empirical work guided the specification of hypothesized effects of the protective factors affectional relationship with parents, affiliation with prosocial peers, and mastery-esteem on tendency toward alcohol abstinence. The tested model controlled for preintervention measures and included specified interrelations of protective factors across time. Structural equation analysis indicated that the model fit the data. Two of the hypothesized cross-time effects, however, were not supported.