Teenage pregnancy and long-term mental health outcomes among Indigenous women in Canada

Abstract

Our objectives were to (1) compare the risks for poor long-term mental health outcomes among indigenous women with and without a teenage pregnancy and (2) determine if community and cultural factors modify this risk. We conducted a secondary analysis of the 2012 Aboriginal Peoples Survey. Respondents were women aged 25 to 49 years who had given birth to at least one child. Teenage mothers (age at first birth 13 to 19 years; n = 1330) were compared to adult mothers (age at first birth 20 years or older; n = 2630). Mental health outcomes were psychological distress, mental health status, suicide ideation/attempt, and alcohol consumption. To address objective 1, we used binary logistic regression analyses before and after controlling for covariates. To address objective 2, we tested the significance of interaction terms between teenage pregnancy status and effect measure modifiers. In unadjusted analyses, teenage pregnancy was associated with increased risk for poor/fair mental health [odds ratio (OR) 1.77, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.24-2.53] and suicide attempt/ideation (OR 1.95, 95% CI 1.07-3.54). However, the associations were not statistically significant after adjusting for demographic, socioeconomic, environmental, and health covariates. Teenage pregnancy was not associated with increased risk for high psychological distress or heavy alcohol consumption in unadjusted or adjusted analyses. The interaction term for involvement in cultural activities was statistically significant for poor/fair mental health; however, after stratification, ORs were non-significant. Among indigenous mothers, teenage pregnancy was less important than broader social and health circumstances in predicting long-term mental health.

Shedding light on attitudes towards pregnancy among Inuit adolescents from Nunavik

“…To our knowledge, only two studies have explored early pregnancy among Nunavimmiut 2 2 Inuit from Nunavik. [ 3 , 4 ], and their results appear consistent with research from general populations, which depict adolescent pregnancies as associated with less favourable health and behavioural profiles for both the mother and the child [ 5–7 ]. On the other hand, several positive aspects of early childbearing and motherhood are found in qualitative studies conducted among Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations.…”

Autoestima y embarazo adolescente en un grupo de estudiantes de bachillerato en el municipio de Soacha (Colombia)

“…Respecto a la cultura, se hizo relevante que en mujeres indígenas que han vivido la experiencia del EA existen vulnerabilidades a la salud mental que, aunque podrían ser condicionantes, no expresan un grado de asociación directa con la experiencia del EA. Por lo contrario, dicho suceso está condicionado por factores diversos socioeconómicos como lo son la seguridad alimentaria, tener comorbilidades preexistentes y presentar limitaciones cognitivas para el aprendizaje (Xavier et al, 2018).…”

Prevention's Model of Teenage Pregnancy

“…Teenage have knowledge, attitudes and teaching of sex education and life skills were increased after receiving knowledge and skills training on sex [5,[7][8][9].…”

“…Learning activities make teenage satisfied organizing young people are intent and willing to participate regularly, dare to express feelings openly, faith in actions, good relationship able to accept others, decision-making skills and solve problems systematically, enjoy with participating in learning activities, be able to summarize knowledge and apply what they learn to use in daily life and achieve a higher level of academic achievement [6,7,13].…”