The chapters of this volume contain the background papers that informed the deliberations of the Panel on Adolescent Pregnancy and Childbearing and support many of its conclusions concerning the current state of knowledge. Chapters 1 through 4 present detailed reviews of the research on factors affecting adolescent sexual decision making, including the initiation of sexual activity, contraceptive use, and pregnancy resolution. Chapters 5 through 8 review the scientific evidence on the short-term and long-term social, economic, and health consequences of early sexual activity, pregnancy, childbearing, and parenting. Chapters 9 and 10 review evidence concerning the costs, effects, and effectiveness of alternative programs. The tables referred to in Chapters 1–10 are found in the statistical appendix.

Contents

• Panel on Adolescent Pregnancy and Childbearing
• Committee on Child Development Research and Public Policy
• Foreword
• Preface
• ADOLESCENT PREGNANCY AND CHILDBEARING: AN EMERGING RESEARCH FOCUS
• Influences on Early Sexual and Fertility Behavior
  • CHAPTER 1. FACTORS AFFECTING INITIATION OF SEXUAL INTERCOURSE
    • INTRODUCTION
    • BACKGROUND
    • A MODEL OF SEXUAL ACTIVITY
    • RESEARCH RESULTS
  • CHAPTER 2. ADOLESCENT SEXUAL BEHAVIOR AS IT RELATES TO OTHER TRANSITION BEHAVIORS IN YOUTH
    • THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS
    • THE RELATIONSHIPS AMONG VARIOUS ADOLESCENT BEHAVIORS
    • SIMILARITY AND DIFFERENCES IN BEHAVIORS FOR DIFFERENT ADOLESCENT BEHAVIORS FOR DIFFERENT SUBGROUPS OF ADOLESCENTS
    • DISCUSSION
  • CHAPTER 3. CONTRACEPTIVE DECISION-MAKING AMONG ADOLESCENTS
    • BACKGROUND
    • METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES
    • RESEARCH
    • SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
  • CHAPTER 4. TEENAGE PREGNANCY AND ITS RESOLUTION
    • BACKGROUND
    • THE RESOLUTION OF TEEN PREGNANCIES
    • RESEARCH
    • SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
• Consequences of Early Sexual and Fertility Behavior
  • CHAPTER 5. THE HEALTH AND MEDICAL CONSEQUENCES OF ADOLESCENT SEXUALITY AND PREGNANCY: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
    • INTRODUCTION
    • SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES
    • THE EFFECT OF INDUCED ABORTION ON THE HEALTH OF THE ADOLESCENT AND HER FUTURE OFFSPRING
    • THE MEDICAL AND HEALTH CONSEQUENCES OF ADOLESCENT BIRTH
    • CONCLUSIONS
  • CHAPTER 6. SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF TEENAGE CHILDBEARING
    • INTRODUCTION
    • CONSEQUENCES FOR THE MOTHER, FATHER AND OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS
    • SOCIETAL COSTS
    • THE HYPOTHETICAL IMPACT OF POLICY INTERVENTIONS
    • SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
  • CHAPTER 7. TEENAGE FATHERHOOD
    • INTRODUCTION
    • RESEARCH ISSUES IN UNDERSTANDING ADOLESCENT FATHERHOOD
    • THE ADOLESCENT MALE AS PARENT
    • THE IMPLICATIONS OF EARLY FATHERHOOD FOR THE ADOLESCENT MALE
    • CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH DIRECTIONS
  • CHAPTER 8. THE CHILDREN OF TEEN CHILDBEARERS
    • INTRODUCTION
    • HEALTH
    • COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT AND SCHOOL ACHIEVEMENT
    • SOCIOEMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
    • INTERVENING FACTORS
    • PARENTING BEHAVIORS OF ADOLESCENT AND NON-ADOLESCENT PARENTS
    • METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES
    • SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
• Programs and Policies
  • CHAPTER 9. THE EFFECTS OF PROGRAMS AND POLICIES ON ADOLESCENT PREGNANCY AND CHILDBEARING
    • SEXUAL ACTIVITY
    • CONTRACEPTION/PREGNANCY PREVENTION
    • PREGNANCY AND PREGNANCY RESOLUTION
    • WIC
    • PARENTHOOD
    • SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
  • CHAPTER 10. ESTIMATES OF PUBLIC COSTS FOR TEENAGE CHILDBEARING: A REVIEW OF RECENT STUDIES AND ESTIMATES OF 1985 PUBLIC COSTS
    • PART I THE STUDIES
    • ISSUES AND RECOMMENDATIONS
    • SUMMARY OF PART I
    • PART II INTRODUCTION: PUBLIC COST ESTIMATES FOR 1985, AND FOR THE 1985 FIRST BIRTH COHORT
    • 1985 SINGLE YEAR PUBLIC COST ESTIMATE
    • SINGLE BIRTH AND SINGLE COHORT COST ESTIMATES FOR FIRST BIRTHS TO TEENAGERS IN 1985
    • SOURCES AND ASSUMPTIONS FOR SINGLE BIRTH AND SINGLE COHORT PUBLIC COST ESTIMATES
    • USING THE COSTS IN BENEFIT-COST ANALYSIS
    • MEASURING PROGRAM BENEFITS
    • SIMPLE BREAK-EVEN ANALYSIS
• REFERENCES
• STATISTICAL APPENDIX TRENDS IN ADOLESCENT SEXUAL AND FERTILITY BEHAVIOR
• ADDENDUM COMMONLY USED DATA SOURCES

This project was sponsored by the Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. The interpretations and conclusions contained in this publication represent the views of the panel and not necessarily those of the sponsoring foundations, their trustees, or officers.

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this publication was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.

The National Research Council was established by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and of advising the federal government. The Council operates in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy under the authority of its congressional charter of 1863, which established the Academy as a private, nonprofit, self-governing membership corporation. The Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in the conduct of their services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. It is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. The National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Medicine were established in 1964 and 1970, respectively, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences.