Self-image and parental communication in pregnant and parenting and non-pregnant African-American and Anglo-American adolescents

This study attempted to identify some specific psychological correlates of early pregnancy in African- American and Anglo-American adolescents. The research examined relationships of race and pregnancy status to self- image and parental communication in adolescent females. One hundred pregnant, parenting and non-pregnant African- American and Anglo-American adolescents were studied. The subjects were surveyed using two questionnaires; the Parent- Child Communication Questionnaire was used to assess parent- child communication patterns, and the Offer Self-Image Questionnaire-Revised to examine the subject's feelings and attitudes about the self in 11 areas of psychosocial adjustment.

Results of the study revealed that African-American and Anglo-American adolescents did not differ significantly on the majority of self-image dimensions. Findings indicate that non-pregnant adolescents in the sample reported higher psychosocial well-being than their pregnant counterparts. African-American non-pregnant adolescents in the sample did not differ significantly from their same race pregnant adolescents. However, Anglo-American non-pregnant adolescents differ significantly from their pregnant same race counterparts. There were no significant differences among the groups on the parental communication dimension.