Teenage Pregnancy Thesis - 01

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study Here in the Philippines, we believe in the saying of our national hero Dr. Jose P. Rizal that “Youth is the hope of our Mother land”. In their hand lies the future generation to follow.

But as we see from the situation nowadays, what we are expecting from the youth is the contrary of the saying. Most teenagers today are prone to pregnancy. Every year there is a rapid increase on the number of pregnant youths. One of the major causes of this problem is poverty. Low educational background for both early mother and parents is also a major cause of the problem. Because of the rapidly increasing number of the population each year, the Philippine government is now working on a new solution: The Reproductive Health Bill (RH Bill) as one of the most effective solution not only to teenage pregnancy but also to the increasing population of the country.

But aside from RH bill, there are more ways to prevent or reduce the number of underage pregnancies. One is to first know the reason of early teenage intercourse; and the factors that contribute to it.

Statement of the Problem 1. What is teenage pregnancy? 2. What are the factors that contribute to teenage pregnancy? 3. What are the factors that contribute to early teenage intercourse?

Significance of the Study

This study is a beneficial article that may help:  Future nursing students exposed to the community health care when encountering adolescents/families to provide brief health teaching and advising to prevent or reduce the number of possible early pregnancies at the area.  The early mother and father to advise correct family planning  The early mother’s guide to newborn care  Consultation on the responsibilities of the early father  The future reader by learning the nature of teenage pregnancy, the factors that contribute to it, etc.

Scope and Delimitations of the Study This study is conducted to determine the rate/ statistics, factors and complications of adolescents that are at risk for early, during, and after pregnancy. This way, we could determine the traits of the adolescents that are at risk and provide immediate action. This study will be focused mostly on college and high school students at metro manila each at different schools/universities. The study was inducted at January 10, 2015, Monday.

Definitions of Terms For the better understanding of this study, the researcher defines the definition of the following:

Cause of teenage pregnancy- is the producer of an effect, result or consequence. Economic Status- means family income, parental educational level, parental occupation, and social status community. Educational Development- is the possible trend, progress on their school performance of students or out-of-school youth/teenagers who have been pregnant. Effect of teenage pregnancy- means a result brought about by premarital sex at the age of 13 to 19 years old in relation to her educational development. Out-of-school youth – are youth aged 13 – 19 who are not in school and who are unemployed, underemployed, or lacking basic skills. Peers of teenagers – means were teenagers having an age of 13 to 19 who is equal to another in abilities, qualification, age, background, and social status. Sex Education – means learning the external conditions such as psychological, sociological, economic and social factors that affect the personality, behavior and development of a boy to manhood and fatherhood and a girl to motherhood as well as with human reproduction. Teenage Pregnancy -means conception by a girl between the ages of twelve (12) and nineteen (19) year old which was not planned for.

Conceptual Framework

INPUT Identify traits of the adolescent that is at risk for early pregnancy

PROCESS Self-Structured Survey; data gathering

OUTPUT Identified Number of adolescents that are at risk for early intercourse/pregnancy

CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE Introduction This chapter presents the review related literature which guided the researcher in the conduct of this study. The literature will be taken from the relevant materials to give the necessary background, insight and to supplement the ideas in the present study. The tremendous speed of technological innovations requires, that the teenagers keep pace to the present-day changes. Such as teenagers in the Philippine must be protected against the increasing trend of teenage pregnancy as it happened on this latest decade. An another decades of the same trend is already detrimental to the educational development of students and out of school youth in the country.

Contributing Factors: Family In the Philippines, the NSO 2013, data showed that 13-14 percent of all registered marriages are among teenagers below 20 years old while data from the National Youth Commission show that the rate of teen pregnancy in the country is among the highest in the ASEAN region and the only country where the rate is increasing. The global issue of teen pregnancy is the reason why the annual celebration of World Population Day — July 11 — lead by UNFPA, focuses on addressing teen pregnancy. Benjamin de Leon, president of theForum for Family Planning and Development in the Philippines, an NGO workingon adolescent health issues, expressed alarm that almost 10 percent of all Filipinowomen aged 15-19 have already given birth. “This is a reality that we must address, he said.There is an urgency for all sectors “to work together tohelpaddress adolescent reproductive health issues and teen pregnancy becauseofthe health and economic implications to the country,” he said. “A high rate ofteenpregnancy also means a high risk for maternal deaths among our young girls.” The Philippines joins the rest of the world in calling the attention of Government and civil society groups to help address rising teen pregnanciesthrough better policies, improved education and information campaigns and programs that can reach our adolescents in schools, in communities or wherever they may be,” de Leon said. In here he points out that every Filipino family,community, church involvement and peers of a teenager has a great role on this. From the stands By Domini M. Torrevillas (The Philippine Star) updatedJuly 11, 2013. There is evidence supporting the Reproductive Health Lawthat calls for sexuality education among

young students. Not that for teachingthe kids to engage in “safe” sex, but rather, for telling them why they should not engage in early sex, and yes, before marriage. With regulated sexuality education, the young are informed about sex, pregnancy, unplanned and planned, instead of through the internet or pornographic magazines that somehow manage to reach them. Peep into their rooms and see copies of Playboy and Penthouseand other sexy publications tucked between the bed sheets, and for-adults-only videos in the internet. When the family disregard sex education at home, might one way that teenagers will be innocent about sex consequences and prone to early sex. The other one is when the family has poor values and can’t understand the need of teenagers economically, socially and emotionally might one reason too of teenage pregnancy. . Discover Questions in the Philippines”, July 14, 2013 (Online Survey). The factors that triggers the increased of Teenage Pregnancy in the country are: Family problems, broken family/complicated family, peer pressure/bad influence, Media/Television/Movies-Influential Trends (regarding sex), Pornography, lack of attention, love, caring, lack of moral values, failure to nurture with good principle, Curiosity, Lack of Information about Sex (sex education), use of Illegal drugs, lack of Guidance, Prostitution (involves poverty), unintelligent decisions etc. The main thrust of this study is to find out the factors behind the teenage pregnancy. It is clear that some other factors on teenage pregnancy such as peer pressure, media / movies or television, use of illegal drugs and Lack of Information about Sex (sex education) and some other factors are rooted or sprouted from 2 factors only and that are due to absence of “Family Intervention” and Educational Information about sex (sex education). In here it was disclosed by ”Press release courtesy of DKT Reproductive Health Inc.”, 2012: that the National Statistics Office revealed that from 2000-2010, teenage pregnancy in the Philippines has increased by 65%, despite an almost 14% decline in teenage marriage in the same period. The increase was most notable among girls aged 15 to 19, among whom live births rose 38% from the Family Health Survey disclosed that the primary reasons for teenage pregnancy are insufficient access to information about sexual health and reproductive health services specifically targeted at teens. Actually the first access on Education of sex will start at home but in spite of campaign of Philippine government. Filipino families remain hesitant to open up sex to their children. Instead the government has find hard to implement sex education because of Filipino beliefs and values. (Billy & Brewster,2002),The family members of an adolescent exert considerable influence over his or her sexual behavior. Many aspects of family life influence a teen’s decision to become sexually active, use contraception, or continue with a pregnancy. Socio-economic status, family structure, parental attitudes, and parental communication and support all play an important role in a teen’s decision-making.Children of parents with low educational attainment, occupation and income are more likely to have sex at an early age, not use contraception consistently and become pregnant or cause a pregnancy.The values and behavior

demonstrated by family members regarding sexual risk taking and early childbearing influence the teen’s own attitudes and behavior. Parents with permissive attitudes about teen sex or premarital sex, or negative attitudes about contraception have children who are more likely to have unprotected sex and become pregnant .(Kim, Ridger, Harper, & Yang, 1974) Teens look to their parents as role models and very often reproduce their behavior. Therefore, it is not surprising that teens are more likely to initiate sex and become pregnant if their parents are having sex outside of marriage, cohabitating with a romantic or sexual partner, have had a child outside of marriage or gave birth as an adolescent.

Community Teenage Pregnancy in the Philippines, By Cesanne, January, 2010. Initially, much of the research on the causes of adolescent sexual activity focused on the individual level, the influence of the teens’ own physical and psychological characteristics. More recently there has been growing interest in contextual variables, aspects of the teens’ environments, such as the community and school. These studies have consistently found that the community where teens live influences their sexual behavior. Adolescents who live in communities with more social disorganization and fewer economic resources are more likely to engage in sex at an early age and become pregnant. The level of education, unemployment rate and income level of the adults in the community are all associated with the sexual behavior of teens. (Kearney, 2004), Girls living in lower socio-economic circumstances are more likely than their wealthier peers to become pregnant. And explain that teens who experience “despair” are more likely to turn to motherhood as any to find out meaning in a world where they see few other options.

Peers Renee E. Sieving, Maria E. Eisenberg, Sandra Pettingell and Carol Skay, Volume 38, Number 1, March 2006 “ Friends’ Influence on adolescents’ First Sexual intercourse,” stressed that on their study showed that in the 9-18 months between Waves 1 and 2.18% of participants initiated intercourse. In analyses controlling for gender, family structure and romantic relationships, the higher the proportion of a youth’s friends who were sexually experienced, the greater odds of sexual debut (odds ratio, 1.01), the odds also were elevated among youth who believed that they would gain other friends’ respect by having sex (1.2). Relationships between friend variables and sexual initiation did not vary by level of involvement with friends. They concluded that to maximize the likelihood of success, programs focused on delaying teenage sexual intercourse, should address norms for sexual behavior among adolescents’ close friends as well as the perceptions, skills and behaviors of individual youth.

( R. Fernandez 2001), having a study of minority adolescents found that the number of sexually active girlfriends was positively associated with permissive sexual attitudes, intentions for future sexual activity and non-marital childbearing. Other risk behaviors have an impact as well. When a teen’s friends are not attached to school, have poor grades, abuse drugs or engage in delinquent behaviors, there is a greater likelihood that the teen will become sexually active at an early age. It is interesting to note that it is not only the actual behavior of peers, but the assumption of certain behaviors by peers, that influence adolescent sexual activity. (Whertheimer, 2000; Kirby, 2001). The perception of normative sexual attitudes and behavior is closely associated to the teen’s own attitudes and behavior. When teens believe – correctly or not – that their peers are having sex, they are more likely to have sex. When teens believe that their peers support contraceptive use, they are more likely to use contraception .The effect of peer influence may depend on the teen’s other sources of information on sex.

Effects after pregnancy Common Reasons behind Teenage Pregnancy in the Philippines, Oct 3rd, 2011; “Teenagers could possibly become pregnant as a result of the deficiency of decent educational programs, hindrances from being able to acquire birth control methods, sexual assault or rape, economic reasons, and cultural rituals and that is usually handed from family to another family. Teenage Pregnancy brings about life-changing outcomes and commitments. Their studies and also ambitions will most likely be hampered as they will need to concentrate their attention on parenting their child or supporting their new family.” The above literature is relevance to the study for after mentioning the possible factors behind, it penetrated to the effects brought about by pregnancy against the school performance of the teenagers which would be temporarily hampered or it could be reason of total separation from school to give priority of rearing and parenting their incoming child.

Media and Teenage Pregnancy The extent to which the media influences adolescent sexual behavior is a topic of contentious debate. In the Philippines, many feel that images portrayed in television, movies, song lyrics, videos, and advertising skew teens’ understanding of normative sexual behavior for young people and do not present the consequences of sexual activity. Mallory Villanueva 2000, “Teenage Pregnancy and the Media’s, Influence on Today’s Youth,” stressed that the national campaign to prevent Teen and Unplanned pregnancy also took notice and conducted a survey to find out how to show is influencing teens. Out of 1,008 young people, more than half watch the show and say it makes them more aware about their own risk. Among those teens, 82 percent think the show helps reveal the challenges of teen pregnancy. Maybe there is such a thing as feeding a trend in a positive way. Supplying teens with knowledge and realistic views could help this curiosity that could eventually lead them

toward becoming another statistic themselves. So, in conclusion, teen pregnancy is a trend. But if handled appropriately, it could be used to spread awareness and prevention to young teens who are the most influenced. The media does send a lot of false images that do a lot to influence young teens, “ a celebrity culture that down plays the hard work of motherhood; ever-changing family structures that normalize non-traditional arrangements; children who live at home longer than ever with parental support and aren’t expected, if they have kids of their own, to marry the father. Hopefully as more media outlets are choosing to show teen pregnancy and being a teen mom for what it really is, this will soon diminish the glamorization that teens seem to be drawn to. So maybe one day, young girls will soon look up to the strong, independent women and realize that they shouldn’t have to own nice things or have to be dependent on someone be happy. They too can be successful, regardless of their race, income, etc. not just do what they feel is expected of them and become hopeless. It’s funny to think that women were once expected to marry and raise a family, right out of high school. Now it’s a fight to show them they don’t have to choose that, they have other options and choices.

Economic Status and Teenage pregnancy (K. Torres, September 2012- National campaign to prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy) Teenage pregnancy is occurring in an adolescent girl between the ages of 13 to 19. Socioeconomic is one factor in which is the social-economic experiences that help mold one’s personality, attitudes and lifestyle. It can also define regions and neighborhoods. Socioeconomic factors also include the ethnicity, and sense of community. Families with low economic status often have less success in preparing their young children for school because they typically don’t have access to promote, support young children’s development and provide them with everything they needed. Studies have shown that girls raised in poverty, in single-parent homes, and by parents with lower levels of education are more likely to be pregnant and to be teenage mothers. Teens often feel pressure to make friends and fit in their peers during adolescence. Many times these teens let their friends influence their decision to have sex even though they do not fully understand the consequences associated with it. Teenagers have sex as a way to appear cool and sophisticated, but in some cases it ends up in unplanned teen pregnancy.

Statistical methods From 2000 to 2010, the number of live births by teenage mothers in the Philippines rose by more than 60 percent, latest data from the National Statistics Office showed. As if this is not alarming enough, NSO data also revealed that the number of teenage mothers who gave birth to their second (and third, fourth, and even their fifth) baby during their teenage years likewise increased in the last 10 years, according to data presented at a press conference in Quezon City on Monday by Carmelita Ericta, administrator and civil registrar general of the National Statistics Office.

A total of 207,898 mothers aged below 20 years old gave birth in 2010. In 2000, however, this number was only 126,025, NSO said.

This rise in statistics is also reflected in the 2011 annual report of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)-Philippines, which showed that teen pregnancy in the Philippines went up by 70 percent from 114,205 in 1999 to 195,662 in 2009. Statistics show that more and more female teenagers are giving birth and becoming mothers at an early age. This is a global trend, but it is striking to note that in the ASEAN region, the Philippines has the third highest teen pregnancy rate and is the only country in the region where the rate is increasing, data from the National Youth Commission showed.

CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY Research Design The study being conducted is a descriptive research. It includes the collection of data needed to answer the question concerning the current status of the study.

Research Respondents The respondents of this research study are the female teen age students that are enaged in teenage pregnancy at Tacloban City. This study is conducted at Tacloban City where the study focuses to extract the statistical data of teenage pregnancy. This study is conducted in January February 2011.

Research Respondents The respondents of this research study are the female teen age students that are enaged in teenage pregnancy at Tacloban City. This study is conducted at Tacloban City where the study focuses to extract the statistical data of teenage pregnancy. This study is conducted in January February 2011.

Validation of Research Instrument The research instrument was submitted to our Research Professor to correct and finalize the questionnaire. Hence, there was no dry run conducted due to lack of time.

Method of Scoring and Interpretation In analyzing the data gathered though the questionnaire, the researcher utilized

the following: On the age of the teen aged female student that started to become sexually active

Mean Range

Interpretation

10 yrs. old and below

too minor

11-15 years old

early adolescent

16-19 years old

late adolescent

Statistical Treatment The various data gathered were subjected to statistical treatment to present the profile and the extent of influence of the identified factors, problems encountered and possible solutions. The following formula will be used

Percentage:

f/

n

x100

Where: F = frequency N = Number of respondents

CHAPTER IV PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA

This chapter presents analysis, findings and interpretation of data. For the clearer presentation, appropriate tables were used. All findings and data gathered from the survey conducted are presented and analyzed based on the specific questions and previously stated. The presentation considers the variables included in the study namely: Profile of the respondents in terms of age, year level, and socio-economic status. Situation of pregnancy. Pregnancy plan of the respondents. The knowledge of the respondents in abortion, family planning and the place of free condoms. The plan of the respondents for the baby. Managing the current situation. Continue schooling. Respect from others.

TABLE I-A Age Distribution of Pregnant Teenager Age Bracket 10 and below 11-15 16-19 TOTAL:

Frequency 0 11 9 20

Percentage 0 55 45 100

As shown in the Table I-B, there are 20 respondents all-in-all, about the situation of the respondent's pregnancy. There are 14 or 70% respondents who are fine, there are 0 or 0% good. 6 respondents or 30% not well. And 0 or 0% bad. The tabulation shows that the majority of the Respondents are in a fine condition.

TABLE I-C Distribution of Respondents according to their Pregnancy if it is planned Pregnancy if Planned Yes

Total Score 1

PERCENTAGE 5

No TOTAL

19 20

95 100

Table I-C reveals that 1 out of 20 respondents or 5 % had pregnancy plan. And 19 or 95% of them don't have the plan for being pregnant. The data implies that most of the respondents have no plan to be pregnant yet. This shows that the majority of the respondents did not plan their pregnancy.