Pregnancy among High School Students

By comparing ever-pregnant with never-pregnant high school girls in the 10th, 11th, and 12th grades of Bellingham High School, Bellingham, Washington, during 1969-70, the authors of this study aimed to: 1) discover the extent to which pregnancy was a cause of girls dropping;out of high school, 2) determine the characteristics of girls who became pregnant; and 3) compare these pregnant girls with nonpregnant girls, thereby trying to identify a group with "high risk of pregnancy." Nonpregnant participants in the sample completed unsigned self-administered questionnaires. The 27 girls who had dropped out during 1969-70 were interviewed. Pregnancy was the only health-related reason given by dropouts for leaving school. Socioeconomic status was not useful in identifying a high-risk group, but pregnancy is associated with the extent of dating experience, a steady dating relationship, and inadequate methods of contraception. Most pregnancies were unwanted, and knowledge of the risk of pregnancy and monthly periods of fertility was clearly deficient.