Different Factors Affecting Teenage Latina Pregnancy

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the factors that contributed to Latina teenagers’ decisions to remain sexually abstinent or to become sexually active. The participants in this study included four Latina women between the ages of 20-30 years from a major southwestern metropolitan area. Specifically, two of the participants who remained sexually active and two participants each of whom had had a child during her teenage years were interviewed twice. Extreme case sampling was useful in that it allowed the researcher to identify the differences and similarities between the participants. Critical, life story, and testimonios methods were utilized to uniquely respond to the needs of the Latino population. Results indicated that for all of the participants, the immediate family played a major role in the Latinas’ decisions to remain sexually abstinent or to become sexually active. The participants who remained sexually abstinent had a close relationship with their parents and it served as a protective factor for sexual abstinence. Whereas the absence of a relationship with parents and a lack of information regarding sexual topics, allowed for outside forces to influence the Latinas to become sexually active.