observed behavior may not appear to be consistent with accepted cultural or biologic norms for healthy behavior (Fawcett, 1989, p. 192). Living systems can and do operate at varying levels of effectiveness and efficiency, but, to be able to operate at all, some minimum level of balance, both internally and externally, must be maintained. A behavioral system possess sufficient flexibility to react effectively to usual variations in the forces acting upon it, and it possess sufficient stress tolerance to permit effective adjustment to many extreme variations in these forces. There occur instances, however, when the stress level reaches a point when balance in the behavioral system temporarily or permanently is lost.
One health related stressor that does induce imbalance into individual and family behavioral systems is teenaged pregnancy (Weber, 1991, p. 174). Pregnancy often induces behavioral system imbalance into the life of a teenaged girl because the typical teenaged girl is a person who has "not yet completed her biological, socioemotional, or cognitive development" (Records, 1993, p. 326). An exploratory research study found that pregnant teenaged girls had a lower self concept than non pregnant controls in relation to moral, family, and social dimensions (Paik, 1992, pp. 93 111). Another research study found that teenaged girls who are most likely to become pregnant are characterized by (1) low self esteem, (2) an external locus of control, (3) an unfavorable attitude toward school, (4) low educational expectations, and (5) low religiosity (Plotnick, 1992, p. 801). A research study conducted by Schamess, 1993, pp. 432 434) found that pregnant teenagers generally held negative attitudes toward relationships with men in their lives, but idealized the potential of a relationship between a child and themselves as a mother. Schamess (1993, p. 434) concluded that many teenaged girls perceive motherhood "as a gratifying and 's...