Early pregnancies among middle school students: Attribution of blame and the feelings of responsibility among teachers and parents

Abstract

IntroductionGlobally, 15% of adolescents give birth before turning 18, leading to considerable personal, social, and medical impacts on adolescents and to the general society.ObjectiveThis study aimed at exploring and comparing three psychological attributes (i.e., empathetic concern, feelings of responsibility, and attribution of blame) between parents and teachers for the phenomena.Method672 teachers (54% females) and 690 parents (53% female) participated in the study.ResultsThe results indicated a significant mean difference between parents and teachers on empathy (t = 5.735, p < 0.001), attribution of blame (t = 6.902, p < 0.001), and feelings of responsibility (t = 1.727, p < 0.001). Except for attribution of blame, parents’ mean scores of other variables were higher than that of teachers.DiscussionTeachers’ higher attribution of blame to pregnant adolescents and lower empathetic concern raises a prominent concern over students’ healthy environment at school.ConclusionUnderstanding social feelings about responsibilities over adolescents’ general health is very essential, especially for fighting against the problem of early pregnancy.

General Self-Esteem as the Mechanism Through Which Early-Childhood Parental Trust and Support Affect Adolescents’ Learning Behavior: A Moderated Mediation Model

“…The calculation was based on statistical theories 52 and the related empirical studie 53,54 with the assumption of 95% certainty that the selected sample would produce statistically significant results if the hypotheses were true to general population. 55 During calculation, the "P" value was set at .05 (2-tailed) with a small effect size (d = 0.02). An online questionnaire was designed comprising different sections, including the participants' demographic information and the variables of our primary concern.…”