Repeat pregnancies among adolescent mothers

We report the results of an event history analysis of rapidly repeated pregnancies (i.e., within 18 months) among a sample of 170 adolescents who had experienced a nonmarital birth. Study participants were school-aged adolescents (under age 18 at enrollment) from lower-to middle-income families who were recruited from social and health service agencies in an urban area of the Northwest. Just over half the sample were persons of color. Respondents were interviewed at five points from pregnancy through 18 months postpartum. The best fitting model included two proximate determinants pregnancy, contraceptive use and frequency of intercourse, as well as a history of school problems, drug use, fighting, living with parents, length of relationship with boyfriends, best friends experiencing pregnancies, and age at first birth.