This research tests the utility of Kristin Luker's cost-benefit theory for adding to explanations of pregnancy risk taking among teenagers. The data come from interviews with 425 teen women in New York. The findings offer support for the Luker model since in an equation also including background variables and level of ego development, four of the six Luker variables (the subjective probabilities of pregnancy and abortion and the disadvantages of pregnancy and birth control) were significantly related to pregnancy risk taking. The most parsimonious model to explain risk taking includes five Luker variables, as well as welfare history, a measure of previous risk taking, and level of ego development.
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