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Author: Davis, Tricia Marie
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Davis, Tricia Marie
Repeating the Problem: An Examination of Unwed Adolescent Motherhood
Ph.D. Dissertation, North Carolina State University, 2000
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: UMI - University Microfilms, Bell and Howell Information and Learning
Keyword(s): Adolescent Fertility; Age at First Birth; Behavioral Problems; Event History; Family Structure; Family Studies; Mothers, Education; Parents, Single; Pregnancy, Adolescent

Drawing on problem behavior theory, this research examines the influence of a social psychological network of variables on the probability of a repeat pregnancy to an unwed adolescent mother. A sample of adolescents is drawn from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and analyzed using logistic regression and event history analysis. The logistic regression analysis allowed for examination of a dichotomous dependent variable--that of having an unwed repeat pregnancy versus not having an unwed repeat pregnancy. A maximum likelihood estimation technique was used for estimating the parameter values with the highest probability of generating the event of interest--having an unwed repeat pregnancy. Quite consistently I found three predictor variables to have strong effects on having an unwed repeat pregnancy: the age of the adolescent mother at her first child's birth, the adolescent mother's education expectations, and having the adolescent's mother living in the household. The event history analysis used a continuous dependent variable to investigate changes over time. In this study the continuous variable was the time between having an unwed adolescent first birth to having an unwed repeat pregnancy. The results of the event history analysis were consistent with those found in the logistic regression analysis. These results have implications for social policy and the development of interventions for adolescent mothers at risk for a second unwed pregnancy.
Bibliography Citation
Davis, Tricia Marie. Repeating the Problem: An Examination of Unwed Adolescent Motherhood. Ph.D. Dissertation, North Carolina State University, 2000.