The Younger Sisters of Childbearing Adolescents: Their Attitudes, Expectations, and Behaviors

摘要: To examine the precursors of disproportionately high rates early childbearing among younger sisters adolescent mothers, this study compared attitudes, expectations, and behaviors girls (M age = 12.93) who had an sister (n 75) to those only nonchildbearing 348). Results indicated that adolescents were consistently different from on key characteristics known be correlated with sexual activity childbearing: is, they more accepting nonmarital childbearing, perceived ages for typical life-course transitions (best get married, have first child), pessimistic school career likely engaged in problem (smoke cigarettes, skip school). These associated a nonvirgin status current sample closeness rivalry but could not accounted by such within-family experiences as subjects' mothers' permissiveness or lack mother-daughter communication. Findings suggest mechanisms which teens themselves become vulnerable parenthood.