Like Father, Like Son: The Intergenerational Cycle of Adolescent Fatherhood

摘要

Objectives. Strong evidence exists to support an intergenerational cycle of adolescent fatherhood, yet such a cycle has not been studied. We examined whether paternal adolescent fatherhood (i.e., father of study participant was age 19 years or younger when his first child was born) and other factors derived from the ecological systems theory predicted participant adolescent fatherhood. Methods. Data included 1496 young males who were interviewed annually from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997. Cox regression survival analysis was used to determine the effect of paternal adolescent fatherhood on participant adolescent fatherhood. Results. Sons of adolescent fathers were 1.8 times more likely to become adolescent fathers than were sons of older fathers, after other risk factors were accounted for. Additionally, factors from each ecological domain—individual (delinquency), family (maternal education), peer (early adolescent dating), and environment (race/ethnicity, physical risk environment)—were independent predictors of adolescent fatherhood. Conclusions. These findings support the need for pregnancy prevention interventions specifically designed for young males who may be at high risk for continuing this cycle. Interventions that address multiple levels of risk will likely be most successful at reducing pregnancies among partners of young men. After years of declines, rates of adolescent pregnancy and parenthood in the United States still remain among the highest among industrialized nations. 1 In fact, the most recent data suggest that the rate of childbirth among females aged 15 to 19 years actually increased 3% from the previous year, resulting in over 435 000 babies born to adolescent women in 2006 alone. 2 Adolescent parenthood can negatively affect young parents and their offspring. Adolescent mothers and fathers typically have more limited educational attainment and more restricted economic opportunities than peers who delay childbearing. Furthermore, adolescent parenthood hinders normative psychological development and can result in poorer psychological functioning. 3 The adversity associated with young parenthood makes it difficult for adolescent parents to transcend the cycle of poverty into which many are born. 3 – 5 Their children are often raised in lower-income homes and are at higher risk for abuse and neglect than children of older mothers. 6 They are also at increased risk for developmental delays and deficits leading to cognitive impairment and poor behavioral outcomes over time. 3 , 7 , 8 Several studies have documented an intergenerational cycle of adolescent motherhood, in which daughters of adolescent mothers are more likely than are daughters of older mothers to become adolescent mothers themselves. 9 – 13 Research suggests that the transmission of the timing of first birth may be a direct effect of a biological predisposition 14 , 15 or heritability of attitudes and norms surrounding early childbearing. 13 , 16 , 17 Additionally, this intergenerational transmission of adolescent parenthood may be an indirect result of the socioeconomic environment created by early first births. 18 – 23 Such an intergenerational cycle among young men, however, has not yet been studied despite a strong rationale for doing so. Characteristics associated with young fatherhood may create contexts for children that would predispose them to increased sexual risk behavior and adolescent parenthood. For instance, adolescent fatherhood is associated with low socioeconomic status, low educational attainment, 3 delinquency, 24 and poor parental attachment. 25 , 26 Low socioeconomic status, 3 , 24 , 25 low parental education, 27 negative parenting practices, 25 , 27 – 29 and low parental support 27 , 30 , 31 all have been associated with increased sexual risk behavior or adolescent fatherhood among young males, suggesting the possibility of an intergenerational cycle of adolescent fatherhood. In this study, our primary aim was to prospectively examine whether paternal adolescent fatherhood and maternal adolescent motherhood (i.e., the fathers and mothers of study participants were age 19 years or younger when their first child was born) were significant predictors that the study participant would become an adolescent father (referred to here as “participant adolescent fatherhood”). Additionally, we used Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory 32 to identify ecological predictors of adolescent fatherhood. This theoretical approach asserts that multiple levels of environmental factors influence individual behavior, with the strongest influences being those most proximal to the individual. The theory also asserts that influences can be both bidirectional and interrelated. 32