The Determinants of Social Support on Teenage Pregnancy

Jenny C. Potee, The College of Wooster

Abstract

The growing number of teenage pregnancies in this nation is phenomenal. This paper investigates the determinants of social support on such pregnancies. Thirty-two teenage mothers were asked questions pertaining to happiness, life satisfaction, and level of self-esteem. Several sources of social support were considered and demographic information was obtained and taken into account.This information was then analyzed separately in order to determine which variables contribute positively or negatively to the overall well-being of teenage mothers. The data were analyzed using a multivariate technique known as multiple regression. The results suggest that the living situation, race, religion, family closeness, and number of siblings all play a significant role in the pregnant teen's life satisfaction and self-esteem. Furthermore, it was found that the person(s) the teenager is currently residing with is substantively significant with the dependent variable 'Happy'. These findings support the hypothesis that family support can have either a positive or negative effect on the psychological well-being of teenage mothers.