Original article
Runaway and Pregnant: Risk Factors Associated with Pregnancy in a National Sample of Runaway/Homeless Female Adolescents

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2007.12.015Get rights and content

Abstract

Purpose

Homeless youth are at particularly high risk for teen pregnancy; research indicates as many as 20% of homeless young women become pregnant. These pregnant and homeless teens lack financial resources and adequate health care, resulting in increased risk for low–birth-weight babies and high infant mortality. This study investigated individual and family-level predictors of teen pregnancy among a national sample of runaway/homeless youth in order to better understand the needs of this vulnerable population.

Methods

Data from the Runaway/Homeless Youth Management Information System (RHY MIS) provided a national sample of youth seeking services at crisis shelters. A sub-sample of pregnant females and a random sub-sample (matched by age) of nonpregnant females comprised the study sample (N = 951). Chi-square and t tests identified differences between pregnant and nonpregnant runaway females; maximum likelihood logistic regression identified individual and family-level predictors of teen pregnancy.

Results

Teen pregnancy was associated with being an ethnic minority, dropping out of school, being away from home for longer periods of time, having a sexually transmitted disease, and feeling abandoned by one's family. Family factors, such as living in a single parent household and experiencing emotional abuse by one's mother, increased the odds of a teen being pregnant.

Conclusions

The complex problems associated with pregnant runaway/homeless teens create challenges for short-term shelter services. Suggestions are made for extending shelter services to include referrals and coordination with teen parenting programs and other systems of care.

Section snippets

Sample and sampling procedures

Data from the 1997 Runaway/Homeless Youth Management Information System (RHY MIS) were analyzed. This Administration for Children and Families (ACF) database is used by youth crisis shelters (serving runaway youth between 12 and 18 years of age) and transitional living programs (serving youth >18 years of age). Basic crisis shelters have developed to address the needs of runaway/homeless youth and to provide various short-term crisis services, with the intention of stabilizing family

Sample demographics

As shown in Table 1, the overall sample (N = 951) of female youth averaged nearly 17 years of age (mean = 16.6, SD = 1.3). Although most of these youth were European American (58.7%), substantial percentages were African-American (23.2%) or Hispanic (12.8%). Approximately one-fourth had dropped out of school (24.7%) and many had used alcohol (75.4%) or illicit drugs (61.2%). A minority of youth were living at home with parent(s) or another adult before seeking shelter services (38.3%), and

Discussion

Research indicates that pregnancy presents a challenge for any teenager and that those difficulties are amplified for runaway/homeless youth. This study is among the first to investigate factors associated with pregnancy and runaway behavior among a national sample of female adolescents accessing emergency youth shelter services. Although the rates of runaway/homeless adolescents who reported being pregnant at shelter entry cannot be stated definitively, similar rates have been reported

Acknowledgments

The Runaway/Homeless Youth Management Information System data used in this publication were made available by the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, and have been used by permission. The collector of the original data, Computer Services Corporation, Inc., the funder, the Archive, Cornell University and its agents and employees do not bear any responsibility for the analyses or interpretations presented here.

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