Masters Theses

Date of Award

8-1993

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Home Economics Education

Major Professor

Delores Smith

Committee Members

Jacquelyn McInnis, Jean Skinner

Abstract

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.

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