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Author: McCauley, Gary Thomas
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. McCauley, Gary Thomas
The Relationship of Self-Esteem and Locus of Control to Unintended Pregnancy and Childbearing Among Adolescent Females
Ph.D. Dissertation, University of California - Berkeley, 1993
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: UMI - University Microfilms, Bell and Howell Information and Learning
Keyword(s): Childbearing, Adolescent; First Birth; Health/Health Status/SF-12 Scale; Internal-External Attitude; Locus of Control (see Rotter Scale); Pregnancy, Adolescent; Psychological Effects; Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) (see Self-Esteem); Rotter Scale (see Locus of Control); Self-Esteem

The purpose of this study was to identify the association of self-esteem and locus of control with early pregnancies and births among adolescent females. This research is designed to aid the practitioners in identifying adolescents at high risk for early pregnancy and childbearing so early interventions can occur. This investigation was a secondary analysis of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY). This sample consisted of 2,803 females adolescents, aged 14 to 19 years, as of January 1, 1979. The respondents in the sample have been interviewed annually since 1979. Self-esteem and locus of control were examined in adolescents who became pregnant before age 20 in comparison with those who became pregnant after age 20. Self-esteem and locus of control were also examined in adolescents who had births before age 20 in comparison with those who had births after age 20. The NLSY used the Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale to measure an adolescent's self-esteem. A four item scale was used to measure the adolescents' locus of control. This scale was an abridged form of the widely used and tested Rotter's Internal-External scale. Logistic regression was used to analyze the data while controlling for selected demographic variables. The goal of the analysis was to evaluate the relative odds of First Pregnancy or First Birth associated with Self-Esteem and Locus of Control for each year of age from 16 to 19, The method employed was discrete life table analysis, in which a logistic model governed the risk of outcome at each of the four ages, 16, 17, 18, and 19. Adolescents with low self-esteem are more likely to become pregnant and bear children during their adolescent years than adolescents with high self-esteem. Teenage girls with low self-esteem are 1.57 times(95% C.I. = 1.16-2.12) more likely to have their first pregnancy in their adolescent years, than girls with a high self-esteem. Teenage girls with low self-esteem are 1.52 times(95% C.I. = 0.94-2.18) more likely to have their first birth in their adolescent years, than girls with a high self-esteem. Teenage girls with an external locus of control are 1.32 times(95% C.I. 0.98-1.77) more likely than teens with an internal locus of control to have their first pregnancy in their adolescent years. Teenage girls with an external locus of control are 1.59 times(95% C.I. = 1.11-2.27) more likely than teens with an internal locus of control to have their first birth in their adolescent years. Thus, the results of this research suggest that future interventions should address the self-esteem and locus of control of the adolescent in an effort to curtail the alarming increase in the rate of teenage pregnancy. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
Bibliography Citation
McCauley, Gary Thomas. The Relationship of Self-Esteem and Locus of Control to Unintended Pregnancy and Childbearing Among Adolescent Females. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of California - Berkeley, 1993.