higher rates of adolescent pregnancy, adolescent livebirths, and abortions than six other countries with which it was compared (Yoos, 1987). Also, while rates of early intercourse are similar in the United States and the Netherlands, pregnancy and abortion rates for girls aged 15 to 19 are about 7 times higher in the United States. In Sweden, where girls become sexually active even earlier, rates of pregnancy and abortion are less than half the American rates.
Risk Groups: Demographic and Geographic Patterns
Ford, Zelnick and Kanter (1979) as well as Harris and associates (1986) have conducted extensive demographic analysis of groups that are considered to be most at risk for teen pregnancy. According to these authors, African American and Hispanic girls, girls who live in single-parent homes, girls living in homes where parental conflict is strong, and girls whose parents are relatively uneducated are all at higher risk for teen pregnancy than are other girls.
Further, the younger the girl when she first engages in sexual intercourse, the greater the likelihood that she will become pregnant (Transfer & Horn, 1985). In addition, teens living in urban centers are at greater risk for pregnancy, than teens living in rural areas (Tomlinson-Keasey, 1985).
As noted above, one of the strongest precursors to teenage pregnancy is the choice to engage in sex at a young age with the likelihood of pregnancy being negatively related to age; in other words, the younger the girl, the more likely she is to become pregnant as a teen. Other precursors include the girls' general level of knowledge about sex, her degree of willingness to use contraception and/or her degree of willingness to seek advice about sex (Tanfer & Horn, 1985).
The single most important relationship involved in adolescent pregnancy is the girl's relationship with boys that she dates. If, according to Harris et al. (1986), the girl engages in sex with one o...