Pediatrics Residency Program, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94304, USA.
J Adolesc Health. 2010 Aug;47(2):143-50. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2010.01.013.
Adolescents who become pregnant in the United States are at higher risk for a myriad of health concerns. One would predict even more adverse health outcomes among pregnant adolescents who are from disadvantaged racial/ethnic groups; however, previous studies indirectly suggest the opposite. This study examines whether adolescents from racial/ethnic minority groups are less affected by adolescent pregnancy compared to white adolescents.
We used data from 1,867 adolescents participating in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (1995-2001). Our predictor variable was self-reported race/ethnicity. Self-perception of health, educational attainment, and public assistance use in young adulthood were outcome measures. We conducted weighted multivariate logistic regressions and analyzed how adolescent pregnancy modified the relationship between our predictor and outcome variables.
Black and American Indian young women had significantly higher odds than white young women of receiving public assistance (OR, 2.6 and 2.7, respectively; p <.01) and even higher odds if ever pregnant in adolescence (OR, 4.2 and 19.0, respectively; p = .03). White young women had significantly lower odds of high educational attainment if they had a live birth in adolescence as compared to those who had not (OR, 0.1; CI = 0.1-0.4).
These findings support studies that found adolescent pregnancy increases the risk of public assistance use and low educational attainment. The study shows that, for educational attainment, black young women who become pregnant may not be as disadvantaged as their peers, whereas white young women who become pregnant are more disadvantaged.
在美国，怀孕的青少年面临着诸多健康问题的风险更高。人们会预测，来自弱势群体的种族/族裔的怀孕青少年会有更多的不良健康结果；然而，之前的研究间接表明了相反的情况。本研究考察了来自少数民族群体的青少年是否比白人青少年受青少年怀孕的影响更小。
我们使用了 1867 名参与国家青少年健康纵向研究（1995-2001 年）的青少年的数据。我们的预测变量是自我报告的种族/族裔。自我感知的健康状况、成年后的教育程度和公共援助的使用是结果衡量标准。我们进行了加权多元逻辑回归分析，并分析了青少年怀孕如何改变我们的预测变量和结果变量之间的关系。
黑人和美洲印第安年轻女性比白人年轻女性获得公共援助的几率明显更高（OR，分别为 2.6 和 2.7；p<.01），如果在青少年时期怀孕，几率更高（OR，分别为 4.2 和 19.0；p =.03）。与没有生育过的青少年相比，在青少年时期有过活产的白人年轻女性接受高等教育的几率明显较低（OR，0.1；CI=0.1-0.4）。
这些发现支持了一些研究，这些研究发现青少年怀孕增加了使用公共援助和接受低教育程度的风险。该研究表明，对于教育程度来说，怀孕的黑人年轻女性可能不像她们的同龄人那样处于劣势，而怀孕的白人年轻女性则更加不利。
