Early onset psychopathology and the risk for teenage pregnancy among clinically referred girls.

ABSTRACT

PIP: An existing longitudinal data set was used to investigate the hypothesis that a depressive disorder in childhood increases the risk of an adolescent pregnancy. Depression is characterized by low self-esteem, lowered concern about one's personal welfare, passivity, and impaired motivation--all of which may prevent teenage girls from taking steps to protect themselves from pregnancy. The 83 subjects had been referred to a child psychiatric clinic (86%) or a general medical facility (12%) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, between the ages of 8-13 years (average age at intake, 11.5 years). They underwent 4 clinical assessments in the first year of study participation and 2 assessments in each subsequent year. 65 girls experienced 1 or more DSM-III-R defined depressive episodes during the study period; the rest, who served as psychopathologic controls, had conduct disorders. 25 of the 83 subjects (30%, compared to the national average of 24%) had documented pregnancies by the age of 18 years. 28% of the pregnant teens had a history of early onset depression compared with 66% of their nonpregnant counterparts. On the other hand, 76% of the pregnant teens had been diagnosed with a conduct disorder by the age of 18 compared with 24% of the nonpregnant girls. Preliminary analysis further indicated that teenage pregnancy was associated with having been born out of wedlock or to a mother aged 18 years or younger; living in an intact family at time of study enrollment and socioeconomic status were not significant correlates. In the multivariate analysis, however, only two factors retained significance: a conduct disorder diagnosis in childhood (mean time to first pregnancy was 17.3 years compared to 18.7 years among remaining subjects) and race (Blacks tended to become pregnant by 17.4 years compared to an average of 18.7 years for Whites). No significant interaction was detected between a conduct disorder and race. These findings suggest that educational interventions aimed at decreasing impulsivity and undesirable consequences should be targeted at girls with conduct disorders.