Understanding Teen Pregnancy From the Perspective of Young Adolescents in Oklahoma City

As part of a needs and assets assessment for teen pregnancy prevention, university researchers and practitioners from community-based organizations collaborated to conduct focus groups with 102 young teens of diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds. Understanding ethnic and gender similarities and differences in teen views of adolescent pregnancy helped neighborhood-based planning groups tailor their interventions to specific populations. There were many more similarities in themes than differences across both gender and racial/ethnic groups. Common themes included wanting a baby because of loneliness or a desire to be loved, wanting a baby to maintain a relationship, and viewing teen pregnancy as an unintended consequence of having sex. Differences tended to be gender based, with males viewing teen pregnancy as less of a problem than females. Implications for teen pregnancy prevention are discussed, with examples of how the information was used in a teen pregnancy prevention project in Oklahoma City.