Exploring the Causes and Psychological Consequences of Teen Pregnancy

Teenage pregnancy has become a global and a public health concern as mortality rates associated with it are on the increase. In the last two decades, worldwide, therate is slowly decreasing. However, this is not the case in the Philippines, yet notmuch is known about its background as majority of the studies have focused on theoutcomes. This current study explored the causes of teenage pregnancy and thepsychological consequences in the light of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model.Utilizing qualitative case study, nine participants were interviewed. Data weretranscribed and analyzed using Miles, Huberman, and Saldana’s thematic analysis.Three main themes emerged, namely: sociocultural factors (peer influence, lack ofparental guidance, culture, and transactional sex); individual factors (curiosity andpoor sex knowledge, uncontrolled emotions, and revenge), and psychologicalconsequences (emotional reactions, fear, and low self-esteem). The studyconcluded that teenage pregnancy is multifaceted and is influenced bypsychological factors within the micro, meso, and macro systems. Amultidisciplinary approach using coordinated effort may prove appropriate inreducing cases of teenage pregnancy.