Type:	Journal Article
Title:	Domestic violence, single parenthood, and fathers in the setting of teenage pregnancy
Other Titles:	Journal of adolescent health
Authors:	Tan, Louisa H Quinlivan, Julie A
Keywords:	Pregnancy;Impact on children and young people
Year:	2006
Publisher:	Elsevier Science
Citation:	38, 2006
Notes:	General Overview: This article presents a study in Melbourne that looks at childhood family relationships experienced by fathers in the context of teenage pregnancy. Objective: The study aimed to explore the impact of demographic and early interpersonal family relationships as associations of fatherhood, where the mother is a teenager as compared to where the mother is over 20 years of age. Methods: A prospective cross sectional cohort study was conducted. Data were analysed from interviews with males who were about to become fathers, where the mother was aged less than 20 years (teenager) and compared this with information from males who were about to become fathers where the mother was aged 20 or older (control). Information was collected through interviews about their early life experiences, demographic information, drug use, and opinion of the pregnancy. Discussion: The paper discusses this study as one of the few to explore the early childhood background of fathers in teenage pregnancy. Discussion refers to fathers as likely as mothers to have been raised in a home environment where the childhood relationships with their parents have been negative or absent, and to have had childhood experiences of violent parental relationships. As with the teenage mothers, childhood experiences of domestic violence or parental separation were found to have a significant independent association with fatherhood in teenage pregnancy. The paper makes references to other research which found a correlation between childhood exposure to abused mothers with subsequent involvement in teenage pregnancy. It discusses other findings where men whose mothers had been abused during their childhood show double the chances of impregnating a teenage girl, compared with men whose mothers had not been abused. A similar risk is discussed in relation to other studies finding a significant association between teenage pregnancy and childhood exposure to domestic violence. Results: Results of this study show that 22% of fathers in teenage pregnancy reported witnessing a violent childhood relationship between their parents, compared with only 2% of older fathers. After controlling for family income and education, the following factors also have a significant independent association with fatherhood in teenage pregnancy: * a history of parental separation or divorce in early childhood, * exposure to family violence in early childhood, and Conclusions: The paper suggests that childhood exposure to domestic violence, parental separation or divorce and the use of illicit drugs are key associations of fatherhood in the context of teenage pregnancy. It concludes that they may lack a positive role model for parenting and fatherhood.
URI:	https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/14435
ISSN:	1054-139X
Appears in Collections:	Journal Articles

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