Factors contributing to high school completion in pregnant teens

The purpose of this study was to determine factors that may contribute to school completion for pregnant and parenting teens versus choosing the option of dropping out of school. The sample included participants who were pregnant and/or parents as teenagers. Eligible participants were found through a community pregnancy center located in the school district of study, as well as through snowball sampling, and the use of a mail-out process. Participants for this study consisted of adults (18 years and older) who had either graduated or dropped out of school. All participants were female. Two survey instruments were utilized in this study. One survey was implemented to determine levels of resilience. The second survey was implemented to assess levels of perceived social support from families. Additional questions accompanied the surveys to gather demographic information. Participants were also interviewed to determine their perceptions of supports and barriers that may have affected their ability to complete school, as well as to gather information concerning their experiences as pregnant or parenting teens. This study was conducted utilizing a mixed method design approach. The quantitative portion of the study utilized one survey to measure the participants’ levels of resilience, and another survey to measure levels of perceived social support from families. An independent t-test was conducted for each survey to measure the difference between the sample means. A Pearson’s r correlation was conducted to determine if there was a relationship between levels of resilience and levels of perceived social support from families. The qualitative portion of the study consisted of the data collected from participants who were willing to take part in an interview. The data from the interviews were analyzed for emerging themes using a thematic analysis process.