Bingenheimer Jeffrey B, Stoebenau Kirsten
associate professor, Department of Prevention and Community Health, Milken Institute for Public Health, the George Washington University, Washington, DC,
Int Perspect Sex Reprod Health. 2016 Mar 1;42(1):1-12. doi: 10.1363/42e0516.
Little is known about relationship types and processes linked to adolescent pregnancy and childbearing in Sub-Saharan Africa. A greater understanding of the role of relationships could help in the design of interventions to reduce adolescent fertility.
Data on 365 romantic and sexual relationships were collected from 298 adolescent female participants of a survey conducted in two towns in southeastern Ghana. Bivariate and multivariate analyses examined associations between adolescent fertility (i.e., pregnancy and childbearing) within a relationship and selected independent variables, such as the age difference between a woman and her partner, the partner's provision of basic and auxiliary financial support, the power disparity within the relationship, and cohabitation or marriage.
Adolescent fertility occurred in 17% of relationships. Across model specifications, the strongest predictors of adolescent fertility were the partner's provision of basic financial support, and cohabitation or marriage. Increasing power disparity was associated with greater odds of adolescent fertility in some models. Being in a relationship with a partner five or more years older was associated with adolescent fertility in bivariate, but not multivariate, analyses.
Adolescent pregnancy and childbearing in southeastern Ghana may be best understood as an aspect of relationship solidification and family formation along a gendered pathway to adulthood. Interventions that help young women avoid relying on sexual relationships as a source of financial support could be helpful in reducing adolescent fertility.
关于撒哈拉以南非洲地区与青少年怀孕和生育相关的关系类型及过程，人们了解甚少。更深入地理解这些关系的作用有助于设计降低青少年生育率的干预措施。
从在加纳东南部两个城镇进行的一项调查的298名青少年女性参与者中收集了365段恋爱和性关系的数据。双变量和多变量分析检验了一段关系中的青少年生育率（即怀孕和生育）与选定的自变量之间的关联，这些自变量包括女性与其伴侣的年龄差、伴侣提供的基本和辅助经济支持、关系中的权力差距以及同居或婚姻状况。
17%的关系中出现了青少年生育情况。在各种模型设定中，青少年生育率最强的预测因素是伴侣提供的基本经济支持以及同居或婚姻状况。在某些模型中，权力差距增大与青少年生育几率增加有关。在双变量分析中，与比自己大五岁或以上的伴侣建立关系与青少年生育有关，但在多变量分析中并非如此。
加纳东南部青少年怀孕和生育情况或许最好被理解为沿着性别化的成年路径实现关系巩固和家庭形成的一个方面。帮助年轻女性避免将性关系作为经济支持来源的干预措施可能有助于降低青少年生育率。
