Developmental Antecedents of Adolescent Parenthood

Abstract

Adolescent parenthood is an issue of universal concern because of the negative outcomes associated with both the teen parents and their children. The current study sought to examine father absence and being born to a teen parent as risk factors for teen parenthood. Furthermore, the study sought to examine the additive risk of SES, as well as to examine sex differences for exploratory purposes. Finally, the study sought to examine the role of parental monitoring and affiliation with antisocial peers as moderators of the relationship between father absence and being born to a teen parent and subsequent adolescent parenthood. The findings indicate that father absence and being born to a teen parent are both independently predictive of teen parenthood and that SES adds to their risk for teenage childbearing. Furthermore, father absence is more strongly linked with adolescent parenthood for girls than for boys. Parental monitoring moderates the relationship between being born to a teen parent and subsequent teen parent status, such that participants who were born to teen moms who report high levels of monitoring were less likely to become teen parents themselves. Parental monitoring did not moderate the relationship between father absence and teen parenthood nor did affiliation with antisocial peers moderate the relationship with father absence or being born to a teen parent and adolescent parenthood. Collectively, these findings suggest that both FA and BTTP are independent predictors of adolescent parenthood, that further research examining sex differences in the risk factors of teen parenthood is necessary, and that moderator analyses can expand the current understanding of the pathways to adolescent parenthood.