American adolescents are no more sexually active than adolescents in other Western nations. Each year more than one million American teenagers become pregnant, which gives the United States the dubious distinction of leading the industrialized world in the highest rates of teenage pregnancy. With the number of adolescent pregnancies increasing yearly, the cost of healthcare has become a major concern for healthcare providers. Because the teen's viewpoint is different from that of an adult, this research study focused upon the issue of teen pregnancy through the eyes of the pregnant adolescent.Heideggerian phenomenology was used as the research methodology to acquire information regarding the lived experience of pregnancy for the single adolescent, with Heideggerdian hermeneutics used in the interpretation of interviews. A purposive sample of five single primipara adolescents living in a teen home, in a large metropolitan area of a Midwestern state was utilized. Each interview was given a number in order to protect the confidentially of the participant. Interviews were audio taped and were transcribed by the researcher. The audio tapes were destroyed at the end of the study. The data obtained were studied by the researcher and others familiar with Heideggerian hermeneutics. The data were analyzed according to the seven step method described by Diekelmann, Allen and Tanner (1989). The findings identified an overall constitutive pattern along with four common themes.The overall constitutive pattern which emerged was "Pregnancy as a diverse human experience." Along with the constitutive pattern identified were four other common themes: (a) Body image changes as being within oneself; (b) Being marked as a pregnant teenager; (c) Pregnancy as loss; and (d) Pregnancy as connectedness. Both the constitutive pattern and the common themes were validated by the adolescent interviewed. The conclusions of this study showed that teens were aware of the methods of contraception and pregnancy but were unaware of the impact pregnancy would have on the teen's being in the world. / School of Nursing
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/185054 |
| Date | January 1994 |
| Creators | Meek, Mary Elaine |
| Contributors | Ball State University. School of Nursing., Arndt, Mary Jo |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | vii, 77 leaves ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
| Coverage | n-us--- |
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