Dependency and identity foreclosure among pregnant Applalachian adolescents

Adolescent pregnancy continues to be a problem in Tennessee. In 1984, approximately seventeen thousand Tennessee teenagers became pregnant even though over decade before Tennessee had adopted one of the most liberal laws in the nation concerning the dispensing of contraceptives minors. Past research indicates that knowledge of contraceptive methods is not adequate to prevent teen pregnancies. Currently, researchers are being encouraged to look at the problem from a developmental perspective as well as from an interpersonal. behavioral perspective.

The purpose of this study was to examine interpersonal and developmental characteristics that may distinguish pregnant adolescents from adolescents who have never been pregnant. The areas. of specific interest are the psychological characteristic of dependency and the developmental concept of identity foreclosure. In this study, dependency was defined as the degree to which a person relies on others emotionally. Identity foreclosure was defined as the premature commitment to adult identity without proceeding through a sufficient investigatory phase or "crisis."

The Interpersonal Behavior Survey and The Objective Measure of Ego-Identity Status were administered to thirty-four female adolescents from the rural counties of East Tennessee. Seventeen. were pregnant or had recently delivered and seventeen had never experienced a pregnancy. Comparing the two groups on the variables of dependency and identity foreclosure, the pregnant group was found, on the average, to be more dependent than the nulliparous group: the groups, however, did not differ significantly regarding identity foreclosure.

The results concerning dependency support past research. However, the results of the identity foreclosure data do not support previous findings concerning adolescents and identity foreclosure. Recommendations for future research and possible implications for policies and programs dealing with adolescent pregnancy were discussed.