Psychoanalytic interviews with 22 women in France with unwanted pregnancies found that most discovered their pregnancy after the first trimester (thus not benefiting from legal abortion), that 18 took advantage of French law permitting anonymous and cost-free delivery followed by adoption, but that 4 were surprised by childbirth and committed…

Interviewed 44 women who did not obtain prenatal care. Identified four categories of reasons for nonuse: women's lifestyles differed from mainstream; stressful events took priority over prenatal care; women attempted to receive care but were discouraged, turned away, or given poor information by service delivery system personnel; and women did not…

Examined possible antecedents of premarital and marital conceptions early in lives of young women (n=5,167) and men (n=5,585). Found that significant antecedents of premarital conception for both sexes were low socioeconomic status; low adolescent social adjustment; and family environment characterized by parent-child arguing, parental divorce or…

Explores the effectiveness of modeling acts of aggression and dominance as casual indicators of forms of wife abuse and their effects on women's health, including physical injuries, psychopathology, alterations to psyche, anger, alcohol and drug use, and subsequent general health status. New estimates of the relative severity are provided.…

Female college professors feel pressure to plan childbirth for the summer because maternity policies don't accommodate mid-academic-year births and finding a substitute instructor may be difficult. A few institutions offer paid maternity leave. Wesleyan University (Connecticut) offers mothers and fathers the option of part-time pay for leave or…

A junior high school teacher shares the story of a childhood dominated by poverty, family alcoholism, sexual and physical victimization, and haphazard school attendance. Surviving these traumatic experiences (and a teen pregnancy) was not easy. This teacher's background enables her to unearth covering-up strategies used by children trying to…

Evaluated the effectiveness of a prenatal-education program in increasing prenatal care utilization, improving maternal weight gain, and reducing low-birthweight births among adolescents. Data from weekly program reports and state vital statistics and health services information indicated that program participants were less likely to have…

Compared sexual risk behavior of female athletes and nonathletes. Examined mediation, reverse mediation, spurious effects, and moderated causal models, using as potential mediators physical development, educational aspirations, self-esteem, attitudes toward pregnancy, involvement in a romantic relationship, age, ethnicity, and social class. Found…

Examined associations between early childhood temperament and factors during mothers' pregnancy. Responses to maternal questionnaires of psychological distress during pregnancy and maternal observations of infants at 6 months and 5 years of age indicated a connection between first-trimester distress and negative emotionality in 5-year-old…

Argues that the anticipation or reality of pregnancy and motherhood shape urban girls' participation in their senior year of high school. Interviews and analysis of students' classroom talk and writing show frequent references to motherhood as girls plan ambitiously for their futures and worry about their children. The media's discourses of…

Describes the methods used to maximize participation and enhance data quality in a randomized, controlled evaluation of an adolescent pregnancy prevention program targeting seventh graders in six urban junior high schools. Documents research procedures and evaluation survey design, discusses cross-cultural issues related to recruitment and survey…

The effects of maternal antenatal and postnatal anxiety and depression on infant negative behavioral reactivity were examined in a sample of 22 mother-infant pairs. Maternal anxiety and depression were assessed by standardized measures during the third trimester of pregnancy and postpartum. Infant negative behavioral responses to novelty were…

The objective of this study was to apply the Information-Motivation-Behavior (IMB) theoretical framework to examine the correlates of the intention to remain sexually inactive among Hispanic and African American high school students. This study utilized a cross-sectional survey of high school students. The setting was the unified school districts…

Teens encounter a barrage of messages about sexuality in popular culture--messages that shape their identities and schooling experiences in profound ways. Meanwhile, teen sexuality, pregnancy, and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) increasingly arouse public panic. To date, however, schools do little to help teens make sense of their…

In this article, the author critiques two current behavioral trends in society among the youth regarding sexuality, namely the abstinence-only viewpoint and hooking-up. He comments that abstinence-only sex education classes seem to focus on and amplify the very dangers that informed students know they can minimize. Moreover, if protecting students…