Time Ultilization of Adolescent Mothers

Teenage pregnancy remains a national concern with 46 in 1000 United States teens giving birth annually. By age twenty, two out of five teens become pregnant; eight of ten teen pregnancies are unplanned (The Alan Guttmacher Institute, 2004). Forty billion dollars are spent annually for welfare, foster care, public assistance, criminal justice, and parenting programs for pregnant and parenting teens and their children (Suner, Nakamura, & Caulfield, 2003). Micro-social and macro-social antecedents to pregnancy include substance abuse, physical and sexual abuse, poor school performance, delinquent and risky behaviors, low socioeconomic status, limited access to and use of birth control, attitudes towards sex, mothers that were teen parents, and dating practices with older male partners (Kirby, 2002). Program prevention efforts focus on providing contraceptives, promoting abstinence, educating about pregnancy, encouraging family communication, and providing esteem promoting activities. Program intervention efforts focus on educating the mothers, supporting families, offering educational and vocational services, establishing community networks, creating day care options, and procuring emergency services (Suner, et al.). However, missing from the research is an examination of how teens allocate their time to accomplish their daily occupations just prior to and after the birth of their children. This presentation describes a pilot study that examines how pregnant and parenting teens allocate their time to complete their daily occupations. Using a mixed methods approach, seven researchers interviewed and collected time samples over a three week period from ten pregnant and parenting teens living in a rural community. Frequencies and chi-squares were calculated to analyze the non-parametric data. Preliminary findings indicate that parenting teens spend the majority of their time engaged in instrumental activities of daily living and leisure activities, and that they perform most occupations with their child or with their child and another person. Pregnant and parenting teens perform most of their occupations in their homes or the homes of friends and family members, and spend substantively more time in passive than active leisure occupations. They expressed positive feeling most frequently when performing active leisure occupations, and least frequently when engaged in education or work related occupations. This presentation concludes with an examination of the study findings and research methodology