Factors Predicting the Healthcare Behavior of Adolescence Pregnancy

This descriptive research aimed to examine the predictor variables of the healthcare behavior of pregnant adolescents. Thesamples were 200 pregnant adolescents attending the prenatal care unit at Sawanpracharak Hospital. The research tool was a questionnaire including personal data, developmental assets, families’ strengths, attitudes toward pregnancy, health literacy, and healthcare behavior in pregnant adolescents. The Content Validity Index was 0.89, 0.80, 0.86, 0.91, and 0.90 respectively. The reliability by Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficient was 0.86, 0.84, 0.82, 0.81, and 0.80 respectively. Pearson’s correlation and Chi-square were used to test the correlation between variables. Stepwise multiple regression analysis was employed to test the predictors. The results indicated statistically significant positive relationships among economic status, developmental assets, families’ strengths, attitudes toward pregnancy, health literacy, and healthcare behavior of pregnant adolescents at p<0.01 (r=0.13, 0.61, 0.47, 0.44, and 0.54 respectively). The developmental assets, health literacy, and attitude toward pregnancy all together predict the healthcare behavior of pregnant adolescents for 54.30 percent. The predictive equation was written as The healthcare behavior of pregnant adolescents = 0.52+ 0.43 developmental assets + 0.02 health literacy + 0.12 attitudes toward pregnancy. Based on the findings, it is recommended that healthcare professionals create guidelines aimed at promoting healthy behaviors among pregnant adolescents. These guidelines should take into account the adolescents’ developmental assets, health literacy, and attitudes towards pregnancy in order to be effective. By tailoring interventions to these specific factors, healthcare professionals can better support adolescent mothers and promote positive health outcomes for both mother and child.