MATERNITY AND PATERNITY IN ADOLESCENCE: CAUSES, CONSEQUENCES - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2024

The maternity and paternity during adolescence is a phenomenon that is increasing at an alarming rate in recent years. More and more young people of both sexes have children long before they are ready for it. In most cases, this happens unintentionally.

The consequences for both the adolescent parents and the baby are quite negative, both emotionally and socioeconomically. Therefore, it is essential to study why this phenomenon occurs, and why the number of cases has increased so much in recent times.

In this article we will study both the possible causes for the occurrence of teenage pregnancies, as well as the consequences that this situation produces in all the parties involved.

In addition, we will also talk about how we can prevent so many cases from occurring, to prevent this problem from getting worse in the future.

Causes

Although there is no single cause that we can point to as the culprit of teenage pregnancies, there are many known risk factors that can lead to the phenomenon of fathers and mothers under twenty years of age. Next we will see the most important ones:

Drugs and alcohol

Many of the unwanted pregnancies in all ages occur as a result of the ingestion of intoxicating substances. However, this is especially true among teenagers.

Alcohol and drugs are able to temporarily deactivate the areas of the brain that are in charge of rational decisions. If two young women decide to have sex under the influence of these substances, they are much more likely to decide to take risks that could lead to pregnancy.

Lack of information and resources

Another of the most mentioned causes for teenage pregnancies is the lack of sexual education among the youngest. Because sex is still a taboo subject, many of them have some wrong beliefs that can make it easier for an accident to happen.

For example, a large number of young people continue to think that "going backwards" is a valid contraceptive method. However, numerous studies show that the chances of a woman getting pregnant using this technique are quite high.

On the other hand, it is also possible that young people know what they have to do to prevent pregnancy, but for some reason they cannot carry it out.

For example, this would occur in the case of adolescents who do not have money or way to buy condoms, despite knowing that they need them to practice safe sex.

Low socioeconomic status

Many studies show that the risk of suffering a pregnancy in adolescence multiplies in the case of young people from families at risk of exclusion.

For example, ethnic minority populations with low income or little formal education have many more children before the age of twenty.

These cases are usually especially problematic, since young people of these characteristics who have children usually have many previous difficulties to lead a normal life. The arrival of a baby tends to aggravate this situation.

Influence of media

In times past, if a young woman became pregnant during adolescence, the situation was considered nothing short of tragic for both father and mother. However, in recent years it seems that this dangerous situation has somewhat normalized.

Thus, with the appearance of reality shows such as "Pregnant at 16" and "Adolescent Mother", some young people (who are at a very influential age) believe that having a child before the age of twenty is not so serious. This tends to aggravate the effects of all other causes.

Consequences

Why is it serious for a couple under twenty years of age to have a child? Here are some of the more troublesome causes.

Decreased socioeconomic status

Because adolescents still do not have an adequate educational level or a stable source of income, the arrival of a baby often causes all kinds of problems in this regard.

Now parents will find it much more difficult to continue with their studies and will have to settle for low-paying jobs in most cases.

This, added to the lack of previous economic income, usually causes the family's socioeconomic status to plummet. Likewise, this effect is further aggravated when combined with the one we are going to see below.

Higher churn rates

The problems that teenage pregnancy causes are even more worrisome when the father decides not to take responsibility for his child. Unfortunately, the dropout rate within this part of the population is extremely high.

Thus, young mothers are suddenly in a situation in which they are left alone, without resources in most cases, and in an emotional state that is not the most suitable for having a child. This can cause all kinds of negative consequences, both for the future of the woman and that of her baby.

Social isolation

Finally, because teenage pregnancy is viewed as a very negative thing, most young couples will suddenly find themselves alone in a situation they do not know how to deal with. It is more than likely that their acquaintances, friends and family feel some rejection towards them and withdraw their support.

Prevention

Due to the serious consequences of adolescent motherhood and fatherhood, it is essential that we fight in the social sphere to reduce the number of cases that occur.

The fundamental tool that we can use for this is awareness. Giving adolescents proper sex education could prevent most cases of pregnancy before the age of twenty. Therefore, a good idea would be to include training related to the subject within the educational system.

On the other hand, facilitating access to contraceptive methods such as condoms would also be very useful to reduce the number of cases of this serious problem.

References

1. "Causes and effects of teen pregnancy" in: University of British Columbia. Retrieved on: June 04, 2018 from University of British Columbia: wiki.ubc.ca.
2. "About Teen Pregnancy" in: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved on: June 04, 2018 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: cdc.gov.
3. "Teen pregnancy issues and challenges" in: American Pregnancy. Retrieved on: June 04, 2018 from American Pregnancy: americanpregnancy.org.
4. "What are the causes of teenage pregnancy?" in: Live Strong. Retrieved on: June 04, 2018 from Live Strong: livestrong.com.
5. "Teenage pregnancy" in: Wikipedia. Retrieved on: June 04, 2018 from Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org.