Contact Name
Barbara Dietsch
562-985-9488

Contact Email
bdietsc@WestEd.org

Brent C. Miller, Ph.D., Professor and Head
Brad Benson and Kevin A. Galbraith, doctoral students
Department of Family and Human Development
Utah State University

A summary of existing research about family influences on adolescent pregnancy was commissioned by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy in 1997. Over 100 studies were reviewed and integrated in the report Families Matter (1998); this article briefly summarizes that report.

Parent/Child Connectedness

A large number of studies indicate that parent/child connectedness is associated with reduced teen pregnancy risk; teens who are close to their parents are more likely to remain sexually abstinent, postpone intercourse, have fewer sexual partners, and use contraception more consistently. Across diverse study designs and measures, the evidence is remarkably consistent that parental support, warmth, closeness, and connection between parents and children reduces adolescent pregnancy risk. Recently, a number of investigators have identified mechanisms that could help explain how parent/child connectedness influences adolescent sexual behavior. Specifically, parent/child closeness appears to be related to teens' attitudes about having intercourse, their depression, their impulse control, their use of drugs and alcohol, and their association with sexually active peers, all of which are related to adolescent sexual behavior and pregnancy risk.

Parental Supervision and Regulation

Most researchers find that parental supervision of teens also is associated with reduced pregnancy risk. Parental supervision is most consistently associated with adolescents not having had sexual intercourse, but even among sexually experienced adolescents, teens whose parents closely supervise them are more likely to be older when they first begin having intercourse, to have fewer partners, and to use contraception. Some studies indicate that "very strict" monitoring, or psychological over-control by parents is associated with greater risk of teen pregnancy, suggesting that less intrusive supervision may be more effective. In fact, recent evidence indicates that overly controlling parenting is associated with several kinds of adolescent problem behaviors.

Parent/Child Communication

Research about parent/child communication and teen pregnancy is mixed. In about half the studies open, positive, or frequent parent/child communication about sex was associated with reduced teen pregnancy risk, but in a similar number of studies no relation was found between parent/child communication and adolescent sexual or contraceptive behavior. Some results even suggest that parent/child communication about sexual issues is associated with teens being more likely to have sexual intercourse. When investigators have examined these complexities, mothers' communication is more strongly associated with adolescent pregnancy risk than fathers' communication, but there is little or no correlation between what parents and teens perceive to have been communicated.

Several factors complicate our understanding of the effect of parent/child communication on teen sexual activity and pregnancy risk. First, it is often not clear whether communication about sex occurs prior to adolescents' sexual activity or is a consequence of parents finding out about it. Second, studies may have contradictory findings because of differences in how communication is measured - for example, whether parents have ever talked about sexual issues with their children, how often such communication occurred, communication content, and the quality of the communication. Further, parental attitudes and values might affect the relationship between parent/child communication and teen sex.

Parents' Attitudes and Values about Teen Sex

Attitudes and values of parents appear to be important moderators of the relationship between parent/child communication and teen pregnancy risk. Investigators have found that parents' values influence whether teens have sexual intercourse, the timing of their sexual debut, their number of sexual partners, their use of contraception, and whether or not they have been pregnant. When parents hold strong opinions about the value of abstinence, or about the dangers of unprotected intercourse, teens are at lower risk of pregnancy.

Interaction of Connectedness, Supervision, Communication, and Parental Values

Parental influences overlap and interact to affect teens' pregnancy risk. Parent/child communication about sex is clearly associated with reduced pregnancy risk when parents and children have close relationships and when parents disapprove of teen sex. If parents and teens are closely connected but parental supervision is lacking, adolescents might be more susceptible to non-family influences (e.g., media, peers, partners) that increase pregnancy risk. On the other hand, even if parents do provide appropriate structure and supervise their children's activities, adolescents who do not feel connected to their parents will probably find a way around parental supervision. Generally speaking, if parents and children are strongly connected, teens will be more likely to go along with parental regulation, and parents will be more likely to allow appropriate adolescent autonomy.

Family Structure and Context

How a teen's family is structured and where the family lives also are important indicators of pregnancy risk. Children in single-parent families are more likely to initiate sexual activity at an early age. Teens with older siblings who are sexually active, have been pregnant, or have given birth also are at higher risk of pregnancy. And children who grow up in abusive families are more likely to be sexually active and not use contraception consistently. Neighborhoods where families reside are linked with a variety of social advantages and disadvantages. Teens living in neighborhoods beset by high turnover, poverty, unemployment, and high crime rates are more likely to start having sex early, to not use contraception, and to become pregnant (or cause a pregnancy).

Biological and Hereditary Influences

Biological influences probably play a more important role in the risk of adolescent pregnancy than has generally been recognized. Several biological and partially inherited variables - for instance, timing of pubertal development and androgen hormone levels - are associated with adolescent sexual intercourse.

Conclusion

This summary of research confirms that families-and parents in particular-influence the risk of teen pregnancy. While parents cannot determine whether their children have sex, use contraception, or become pregnant, their quality of relationships with children can make a difference. Close, warm relationships between parents and teens have the most consistent association with reduced pregnancy risk. Parental supervision and parental values also are important. While parent/child communication appears to play a role, additional research is needed to clarify how it interacts with parent/child connectedness, supervision, and parental values to reduce teen pregnancy risk.

This article is based on the report Families Matter: A Research Synthesis of Family Influences on Adolescent Pregnancy by Brent C. Miller (National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, 1998), available from the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, 2100 M Street NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20037, (202) 261-5655, www.teenpregnancy.org.