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Jennifer S. Manlove, Elizabeth Terry-Humen, Lisa A. Mincieli, and Kristin A. Moore examine outcomes for children of teen parents and compare these outcomes with those for children born to older mothers. As in the previous edition of Kids Having Kids, the authors find that children of teenage mothers fare poorly compared with other children. However, much of the difference is explained by factors other than adolescent childbearing. Compared with children whose mothers begin parenting at age 20 to 21, children of teen mothers are much more likely to be low birth weight, have lower health assessment scores, have lower cognitive attainment and proficiency scores at kindergarten entry, and exhibit more behavior problems. Adolescent children have significantly lower academic achievement as measured by performance on standardized tests, and they are at higher risk of not completing high school. Generally, these differences are most pronounced for the children born to women who have their first child before age 18.

For example, compared with children whose mothers begin parenting at age 20 to 21, children of teen mothers have lower standardized test scores at kindergarten entry, and adolescent daughters of teen mothers are less likely to graduate from high school, net of controls. In addition, children of teen mothers exhibit more behavior problems, and children of the youngest teen mothers are more likely to be low birth weight. Adolescent children of teen mothers are also more likely to be married or cohabiting at a young age and are more likely to have a teen birth themselves.

These adverse effects for children are most pronounced for those outcomes measured at kindergarten. However, unlike chapter 5 in the previous edition of Kids Having Kids, which found more pronounced differences for the children born to women who have their first child before age 18, this chapter finds similarly poor outcomes among children of younger and older teen mothers. The authors suggest that this similarity may result, in part, from the different living situations of younger and older teen mothers. These findings suggest that it will take more than convincing teen mothers to delay childbearing for a few years to eliminate the myriad disadvantages their children face relative to children whose mothers choose to begin parenting in their 20s or later.

METHODS:
Data collected from the 2002-2005 rounds of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth yielded a sample of 4,014 dating relationships among sexually active 18-26-year-olds. Bivariate analysis and multivariate logistic and multinomial logistic regressions assessed associations between relationship characteristics and contraceptive use at last sex.

RESULTS:
In three-quarters of the relationships, respondents had used some method at last intercourse; respondents in 26% of the relationships had used a condom only, in 26% a hormonal method only and in 23% dual methods. Compared with respondents in relationships in which first sex occurred within two months of starting to date, those who first had sex before dating were more likely to have used any method at last sex (odds ratio, 1.4), particularly condoms or dual methods (relative risk ratio, 1.5 for each). The relative risk of using a hormonal method only, rather than no method or condoms only, increased with relationship duration (1.01) and level of intimacy (1.1-1.2). Discussing marriage or cohabitation was associated with reduced odds of having used any method (0.7) and a reduced relative risk of having used condoms alone or dual methods (0.6 for each). Increasing levels of partner conflict and asymmetry were also linked to reduced odds of any method use (0.97 and 0.90, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS:
Prevention programs should address relationship context in contraceptive decision making, perhaps by combining relationship and sex education curricula to foster communication and negotiation skills.
Copyright © 2011 by the Guttmacher Institute.

Methods: We used the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1997 Cohort and discrete time-event history methods to examine these objectives.

Results: Our analyses found that similarities and differences between women and their most recent sexual partner in educational attainment, disengagement from work or school, race/ethnicity, and age were linked to the risk and context of nonmarital childbearing. For example, partner disengagement (from school and work) was associated with increased odds of a nonmarital birth regardless of whether the woman herself was disengaged. Additionally, having a partner of a different race/ethnicity was associated with nonmarital childbearing for whites, but not for blacks and Hispanics.

Conclusions: We conclude that relationship characteristics are an important dimension of the lives of young adults that influence their odds of having a birth outside of marriage.

In light of teen mothers' heightened risk of becoming high school dropouts, Child Trends used recently released national survey data to explore high school diploma and GED attainment among women who had given birth as teens. Particularly, we looked at whether they had earned these educational credentials by the time that they reached their early twenties.

Our findings show that slightly more than one-half of young women who had been teen mothers received a high school diploma by the age of 22, compared with 89 percent of young women who had not given birth during their teen years. Furthermore, results of our analyses show that young women who had a child before the age of 18 were even less likely than were those who had a child when they were 18 or 19 to earn a high school diploma before the age of 22, although the rates of GED attainment in the former group were slightly higher. We also found differences in educational attainment among teen mothers by race/ethnicity.

This collection of papers on early adolescent sexual behavior includes seven papers in two parts. Part 1, "Papers from Nationally Representative Data Sets," includes (1) "Dating and Sexual Experiences among Middle School Youth: Analyses of the NLSY97" (Elizabeth Terry-Humen and Jennifer Manlove); "(2) "Dating Behavior and Sexual Activity of Young Adolescents: Analyses of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health" (Hannah Bruckner and Peter Bearman); and (3) "Sexual Activity among Girls Under Age 15: Findings from the National Survey of Family Growth" (Christine M. Flanigan). Part 2, "Papers from Small Area Data Sets," includes (4) "The Development of Sex-Related Knowledge, Attitudes, Perceived Norms, and Behaviors in a Longitudinal Cohort of Middle School Children" (Cynthia A. Gomez, Karin K. Coyle, Steve Gregorich, Barbara VanOss Marin, and Douglas B. Kirby); (5) "Youth with Older Boyfriends and Girlfriends: Associations with Sexual Risk" (Barbara VanOss Marin, Douglas B. Kirby, Esther S. Hudes, Cynthia A. Gomez, and Karin K. Coyle); (6) "Community Concerns and Communication among Young Teens and Their Parents: Data from California Communities" (Susan Philliber); and (7) "Sexual Behavior among Young Teens in Disadvantaged Areas of Seven Cities" (Susan Philliber and Michael Carrera). The data come from surveying 12-, 13- and 14-year-olds as one group; surveying a group of 12-year-olds and then following them over time as they turned 13 and 14; and surveying older teens about their experiences when age 14 and younger. Among the findings of the studies: nearly one in five adolescents has had sex before his or her 15th birthday; contraceptive use among young adolescents is relatively low; and sexually experienced youth age 14 and younger are much more likely to smoke, use drugs and alcohol, and participate in delinquent activities than youth who have not had sex. (Papers contain references.)