The Meanings of Pregnancy in Adolescence for Young People without a History of Pregnancies

Abstract

Abstract In the academic literature there is lack of studies on teenage pregnancy in young people who have not experienced pregnancy. This article aimed to investigate and analyze the meanings of teenage pregnancy for adolescents without a gestation history. The participants were 37 adolescents with no pregnancy history (22 males and 15 females), aged between 12 and 18 years old. The thematic design-story procedure was used as instrument, in which the young individuals were asked to draw “a pregnant adolescent in their Community”. To systematize the data, Bardin’s content analysis was used. Thirteen themes were observed, the most frequent being related to families, relationships and/or friends and very early pregnancies, showing the relevance of these themes for adolescents. It is concluded that teenage pregnancy, in its majority, was seen as disadvantageous, but also as desired by some young individuals, pointing to the ambiguity of the phenomenon.

Keywords

• adolescents
• adolescent pregnancy
• meaning