This article is an exploratory descriptive investigation of the meanings given by pregnant African American adolescents to the experience of being pregnant. Twenty-one participants between the ages of 13 and 19 were recruited from two community clinics and two private physicians'offices in California. Data were collected through in-depth interviews that elicited information regarding the experience of pregnancy, changes experienced during pregnancy, and strategies used to manage these changes. The interviews were tape-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using the grounded theory technique of constant comparative analysis. The two major themes that emerged from the data regarding the pregnancy experience were pregnancy disclosing and role transforming. These themes were related to the extent of difficulty experienced during pregnancy. Coping strategies aimed at ameliorating stress during pregnancy included conceptualizing support as need fulfillment. Identified needs were met by the adolescents' boyfriends and mothers.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Aaronson, L. S.
(1989). Perceived and received support: Effects on health and behavior during pregnancy. Nursing Research, 38(1), 4-8.
2.
Adams, G.
, Adams-Taylor, S., & Pittman, K. (1988). Adolescent pregnancy and parenthood: A review of the problem, solutions, and resources. Family Relations, 38, 223-229.
3.
Alan Guttmacher Institute
. (1994). Facts in brief: Teenage sexual behavior. New York: Author.
4.
Baltes, P. B.
, Reese, H. W., & Lipsitt, LP. (1980). Life-span developmental psychology. Annual Review of Psychology, 31, 65-110.
5.
Beccera, R M.
, & de Anda, D. (1984). Pregnancy and motherhood among Mexican American adolescents. Health and Social Work, 23(49), 12-14.
6.
Berkovic, S.
(1992). U.S. teenage mothers. Social Work Today, 23(49), 12-14.
7.
Billingsley, A.
(1968). Blackfamilies in White America. New York: Simon & Schuster.
8.
Brindis, C. D.
, & Jeremy, R. J. (1988). Adolescent pregnancy and parenting in California: A strategyfor action. San Francisco: UCSF Publication Departments.
9.
Burke, P. B. (1990). The relationship between stressful life events and social support for adolescent mothers as compared with older mothers and nonparentingadolescents. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Boston College.
10.
Coates, D. L.
, & Vanderfelt, B. (1991). Pregnancy in adolescence. In R M. Lerner, A. C. Peterson, & J. Brooks-Gunn (Eds.), Encyclopedia of adolescence (Vol. 2, pp. 784-802). New York: Garland.
11.
Cranley, M. S.
(1981). Development of a tool for the measurement of matemal attachment during pregnancy. Nursing Research, 30, 264-269.
12.
De Mayo Esteves, M.
(1990). Mediators of daily stress and perceived health status in adolescent girls. Nursing Research, 39(6), 360-364.
13.
Garcia Coll, C. T.
, Hoffman, J., & Oh, W. (1987). The social ecology of early parenting in Caucasian adolescent mothers. Child Development, 58,955-963.
14.
Giblin, P. T.
, Poland, M. L., & Sachs, B. A. (1987). Effects of social support on attitudes and health behaviors of pregnant adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Health Care, 8, 273-279.
15.
Glaser, B. G.
, & Strauss, A. I. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. New York: Aldine.
16.
Ham, M.
, & Larson, R. (1990). The cognitive moderator of daily stress in early adolescence. American Journal of Community Psychology, 18(4),567-585.
17.
Ladner, J. A.
, & Gourdine, R M. (1992). Adolescent pregnancy in the African American community. In R. L. Braithwaite & S. E. Taylor (Eds.), Health issues in the Black community (pp. 206-221). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
18.
Lamb, M. E.
, & Elster, A. B. (1990). Adolescent parenthood. In G. H. Brody & I. E. Sigel (Eds.), Methods in family research: Biographies of research projects (Vol. 2, pp. 159-190). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
19.
Lerner, R. M.
, & Ryff, C. D. (1978). Implementation of life-span view for developmental intervention. In P. B. Baltes (Ed.), Life-span development and behavior (Vol. 1, pp. 14-17). New York: Academic.
20.
Mayfield, L. P.
(1991). Early parenthood in low-income adolescent girls. In R. Staples, The Blackfamily: Essays and studies (4th ed., pp. 227-239). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
21.
McLoyd, V. C.
(1990). The impact of economic hardship on Black families and children: Psychological distress, parenting, and socoemotional development. Child Development, 61, 311-346.
22.
Mercer, R. T.
(1980). Teenage motherhood: The first year-The teenage mother's view and responses. Part II. How their infants fared. Journal of Obstetrics, Gynecologic, and Neonatal Nursing, 9, 16-27.
23.
Moss, N. E.
, & Heinsleigh, P. A. (1990). Initiation of prenatal care by adolescents: Association with social support, stress, and Hispanic ethnicity. Journal of Perinatology, 10(2), 170-174.
24.
Muuss, R. E.
(1981). Theories of adolescence (5th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
25.
Norbeck, J. S.
, & Anderson, N. J. (1989). Life stress, social support, and anxiety in mid and late-pregnancy among low-income women. Research in Nursing and Health, 12, 281-287.
26.
Norbeck, J. S.
, & Tlhden, V. R. (1983). Life-stress, social support, and emotional disequilibrium in complications of pregnancy: A prospective multivariate study. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 24,30-46.
27.
Oxley, G. M. (1992). Stress and social support among pregnant adolescents. Unpublished paper, University of California, San Francisco.
28.
Rhodes, J. E.
, Ebert, L., & Fischer, K. (1992). Natural mentors resource in social networks of young African American mothers. American Journal of Community Psychology, 20(4), 445-461.
29.
Rosenbaum, S.
, Layton, C., & Liu, J. (1991). The health of America's children. Washington, DC: Children's Defense Fund.
30.
Rothberg, A. D.
, & Lits, B. (1991). Psychological support for maternal stress during pregnancy: Effect on birth weight. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 165(2), 403-407.
31.
Scott, J. W.
, & Black, A. (1991). Deep structures of African American family life: Female and male kin networks. In R. Staples (Ed.), The Blackfamily: Essays and studies (4th ed., pp. 201-210). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
32.
Stack, C. B.
(1974). Strategies for survival in the Black community. New York: Harper & Row.
33.
Staples, R.
(1991). The Blackfamily: Essays and studies (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
34.
Strauss, A.
, & Corbin, J. (1990). Basics of qualitative research. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
35.
Taylor, R. L.
(1991). Adolescence and personality development: Black youth in crisis. In R. Staples (Ed.), The Blackfamily: Essays and studies (4th ed., pp. 211-226). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
36.
Thompson, M. S.
, & Peebles-Wilkins, W. (1992). The impact of formal, informal, and societal support networks on the psychological well-being of Black adolescent mothers. Social Work, 37(4), 322-328.
37.
West, C.
(1993). Race matters. Boston: Beacon.
38.
Willard Williams, C. W.
(1991). Black teenage mothers: Pregnancy and child rearing from their perspective. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath.
39.
Wilson, H. S.
(1978). The developmental psychology of the Black child. New York: Africana Research.
40.
Wright-Edleman, M.
(1993). The measure of our success. Boston: Beacon.
