Parenthood education should provide teenagers with a foundation upon which to make decisions regarding parenthood, and the knowledge and skills to perform parental responsibilities effectively. This paper addresses major components that need to be included in a teenage-parent program within the home economics curriculum. (Author)

Profiles two women over an eight-month study who abused alcohol and other drugs while pregnant and describes their recovery from the addiction. Examines, from an ecological framework, the women's experiences with drug addiction, treatment, and recovery, and recounts their situation through each. (JPS)

In this pilot study, 14 adolescents kept diaries for 6 consecutive weeks during their pregnancies. Diary entries were analyzed for affective tone, emotional lability, and contextuality. Findings question psychometric properties of data gathered using one time, self-report measures with pregnant adolescents because of their fluctuating mood states.…

Reviews and analyzes findings indicating that exposure to involuntary smoking is detrimental to the health of children, discusses measures taken to decrease their exposure, and explores additional interventions that might be considered. Lessons learned from reductions in active smoking in public places are emphasized, and suggestions are made…

A 9-month nutrition curriculum was presented to 438 low-income pregnant teens. Pre/posttest data showed that nutrition knowledge increased, but improvements in diet behavior were not apparent. (SK)

Evaluated an abstinence-only sexual activity prevention program, Stay SMART, which also aims to prevent drug use among Boys and Girls Club youths. No effects were observed for virgins. Desired effects for sexual behavior and attitudes toward sexual activity were found for nonvirgins who participated in only Stay SMART. (Author/RJM)

Sexually active girls (n=64) at a clinic were surveyed. When those with a history of pregnancy were compared with never-pregnant girls, 2 significant differences were found: girls with pregnancy history had first intercourse at the mean age of 15 instead of 16, and scored higher on the "Powerful Other" Health Locus of Control subscale, a measure…

Examined career aspirations of pregnant teenagers (n=94) enrolled in program designed to minimize their chances of dropping out of high school. Adolescents completed demographic data form that included questions on career aspirations. Data were coded by Holland type. Data revealed number of trends with implications for career counseling of these…

Describes a program developed by the Area University Affiliated Health Education Center for Developmental Disabilities at the Ohio State University to (1) develop state-of-the-art materials on prevention for adults and teens and (2) establish an ongoing statewide mechanism for education in the prenatal prevention of developmental disabilities.…

In over 500,000 pregnancies in 1980, abortions were more likely among White unmarried adult women than among Black; among Black married women than among White. Likelihood of abortion increased monotonically with increasing education, but only for unmarried women. Results were similar for a teenage sample. Contains 32 references. (SV)

Female relatives (n=35) of individuals with fragile X syndrome were asked whether they would terminate an affected pregnancy. Important differences (such as educational level) were identified between women willing to consider abortion and those who would not abort and between women who knew what they would do and those who were unsure. (Author/DB)

Explored correlates of change in short-term economic dependency in households of 307 urban African-American adolescents, approximately one-half of whom bring babies into the family. The presence of a baby significantly affected the adolescent's job dependency but not welfare dependency once prior welfare status was controlled. Multivariate models…

Contends assessing new findings in understanding nature of associations between teenage childbearing and social or reproductive disadvantage and incorporating them into appropriate policy debate and development is a challenge complicated by failure of those translating them for practitioners to do so accurately. Discusses examples of such…

Compared high-risk pregnant (n=55) and nonpregnant (n=598) women from Harlem on human immunodeficiency virus-related drug and sexual risk behaviors. Found higher percentage of intravenous drug users (IVDUs) among nonpregnant women and no significant differences between pregnant and nonpregnant IVDUs in terms of needle risk behaviors. Pregnant…

Compared similarities and differences in social support among African-American, Hispanic, and white pregnant adolescents (n=161). African-American pregnant adolescents were found to have significantly lower total functional support scores than whites. Relationship between social support and prenatal attachment was not found to be significant.…