Digital Commons Network^™

Understanding Teen Pregnancy Through The Younger Sister's Voice: A Focused Ethnography, Bonnie J. Simmons

Nursing Dissertations (PhD)

Each year in the United States between 800,000 and 900,000 adolescents, aged 19 or younger, become pregnant. Over one-half of these pregnancies end in a live birth. Several studies have shown that the younger sisters of adolescent mothers have teenage childbearing rates two to six times higher than childbearing rates of women in the general population. The purpose of this focused ethnography was to gain a better understanding of the influences of a pregnant and parenting adolescent on her younger sister. Purposeful sampling was used to recruit younger sisters of parenting teens. Fifteen (15) African American females, ranging in age …