A Qualitative Study Exploring Reproductive Desires and Parenting Attitudes Among Ethnically Diverse Teens At-Risk of Unintended Pregnancy

OBJECTIVES:There is minimal research eliciting teen reproductive desires and parenting attitudes. Behavioral, educational, and public health interventions to prevent teen pregnancy often highlight negative consequences of teen pregnancy or benefits of delaying parenting, however, limited empirical information is available regarding what factors teens perceive to be influencers on the desire to delay pregnancy. In this study, we sought to identify teen perspectives regarding factors that influence their desire to delay parenting. STUDY DESIGN:A consensual qualitative research approach was used to identify reproductive desires, parenting attitudes, and any factors that influence the desire to delay parenting expressed by at risk teens. Forty participants were randomly selected from a larger clinical trial testing the efficacy of a brief, motivational interviewing-based intervention. During the brief intervention, participants were asked about their parenting attitudes and reproductive desires and factors that influence decisions to avoid teen pregnancy. These recorded segments were extracted, transcribed, and thematically analyzed. RESULTS:The study collected qualitative data on overarching key themes regarding teen parenting attitudes and reproductive desires as well as factors that influence the desire to delay pregnancy including education, financial stability, partnership, maturity/responsibility, friendships, and family. Many participants indicated they wanted to delay parenting due to wanting to pursue future goals and/or not feeling ready for the responsibility of children. CONCLUSION:Overall, teens have a variety of reasons for delaying parenting that may not be explicitly captured by general gain/loss messaging of current interventions. Allowing teens to explore their own beliefs and values around factors that they perceive to influence their desire to delay parenting, creates autonomy and places the focus on the teens themselves and not perceived future losses or gains. IMPLICATIONS:This analyzes parenting attitudes and reproductive desires of teens undergoing a parenting prevention Motivational Interviewing intervention. Through a qualitative assessment, this article identifies themes of teen perspectives regarding factors that influence their desire to delay parenting.