The Effects of Attitudes on Teenage Premarital Pregnancy and its Resolution

Abstract

This study examines the influence of self-esteem, locus of control, and attitudes toward women's family roles and school on the probability of teenage premarital pregnancy and, given a pregnancy, whether it is resolved by abortion, having the birth premaritally, or marrying before the birth.The data are drawn from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and analyzed using the nested logit method.The evidence suggests that for both whites and blacks the four attitude variables are associated with premarital pregnancy and its resolution in the directions predicted by theory.