Abused Boys, Battered Mothers, and Male Involvement in Teen Pregnancy

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Background. The relationship between boyhood exposure to physical abuse, sexual abuse, or to a battered mother and subsequent risk of impregnating a teenage girl has not previously been examined.Methods. In a retrospective cohort study set in a primary care clinic for adult members of a large health maintenance organization, questionnaire responses from 4127 men were analyzed. Respondents provided the age of the youngest female whom they had impregnated, their own ages at the time, and information regarding childhood exposure to physical or sexual abuse and battered mothers. We calculated the prevalence and adjusted odds ratio (OR) for having impregnated a teenage girl according to these 3 adverse childhood experiences, regardless of the male's age at the time of impregnation. Using logistic regression, ORs were adjusted for the male's age at time of survey, race, and education.Results. Nineteen percent of the men reported that they had ever impregnated a teenage girl. During childhood, 32% of respondents had been physically abused, 15% sexually abused, and 11% had battered mothers. Compared with respondents reporting no abuse, frequent physical abuse or battering of mothers increased the risk of involvement in teen pregnancy by 70% (OR: 1.7; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.2-2.5) and 140% (OR: 2.4; 95% CI: 1.1-5.0), respectively. Sexual abuse as a boy at age 10 years or younger increased the risk of impregnating a teenage girl by 80% (OR: 1.8; 95% CI: 1.3-2.4); sexual abuse with violence increased the risk by 110% (OR: 2.1; 95% CI: 1.2-3.4). We found a dose-response relationship between the number of types of exposures and the risk of impregnating a teenage girl; men who reported all 3 types of exposures were more than twice as likely to have been involved than those with no exposures (OR: 2.2; 95% CI: 1.4 -3.5).Conclusions. Boyhood exposure to physical or sexual abuse or to a battered mother is associated with an increased risk of involvement in a teen pregnancy-during both adolescence and adulthood. Because these exposures are common and interrelated, boys and adult men who have had these experiences should be identified via routine screening by pediatricians and other health care providers and counseled about sexual practices and contraception. Such efforts may prevent teen pregnancy and the intergenerational transmission of child abuse and domestic violence. Pediatrics 2001;107(2). URL: http:// www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/full/107/2/e19; adolescent pregnancy, child abuse, domestic violence.ABBREVIATIONS. ACE, adverse childhood experience; OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval; AAP, American Academy of Pediatrics. With an estimated 500 000 teenagers giving birth annually in the United States, 1 assessment of risk factors for teen pregnancy assumes an important role in the practice of pediatrics. Although poverty 2 and childhood physical 3-7 and sexual 1-8 abuse have been associated with an increased risk of pregnancy among adolescent girls, risk factors for male involvement in teen pregnancy h...

The Protective Effect of Family Strengths in Childhood against Adolescent Pregnancy and Its Long-Term Psychosocial Consequences

“…[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] These and related reports demonstrate strong and graded associations between cumulative exposure to categories of ACE and many unfavorable reproductive health outcomes, including early onset of sexual activity, adolescent pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, increased risk of HIV infection, violence perpetration, unintended pregnancy in adulthood, and fetal death. 13,14,16,22,23 Data collected in the second wave of the study also included measures of family strengths, which should protect against these unfavorable outcomes.…”

Long-Term Consequences of Childhood Sexual Abuse by Gender of Victim

“…Previous publications from the ACE Study have demonstrated strong relationships of various interrelated adverse childhood experiences to multiple risk factors for the leading causes of death in the United States, 25 and to priority health and social problems, such as smoking, 26 sexually transmitted diseases, 27 unintended pregnancies, 28 male involvement in teen pregnancy, 29 alcohol and illicit drug problems, 30 -32 liver disease, 33 and suicide attempts.…”

Le regard de jeunes pères sur leur enfance et leur adolescence

“…Les jeunes pères ont plus souvent que les autres jeunes connu des milieux familiaux difficiles (Furstenberg et Weiss, 2000). Beaucoup plus fréquemment que la population de jeunes hommes sans enfant du même groupe d'âge, ils ont subi des abus physiques ou sexuels ou ont été témoins de violence conjugale (Anda, Felitti, Chapman et al, 2001), ont souffert de l'absence de leur père, de son désengagement ou de rapports conflictuels avec celui-ci (Allen et Doherty, 1996;Tuffin, Rouch et Frewin, 2010).…”