Teenage pregnancy among Pantawid Pamilya Pilipino Program beneficiaries in Iloilo City: Associated factors, consequences and coping mechanisms

Abstract

This descriptive study was conducted to determine the associated factors, consequences and coping mechanisms of Pantawid Pamilya teenage mothers-beneficiaries in the City of Iloilo. This descriptive-correlational study used the one-shot survey design in complete enumeration of the 104 respondents for the study using a researcher developed interview schedule. The SPSS software was used in data processing and analyses using frequency distribution and the mean for descriptive analyses and Chi-square test to determine the relationships among variables. The study revealed that the teenage mothers-respondents can be aptly described as 16 years old and below, high school level, with parents of high school level of education, eldest, living with both parents, in the subsistence level of well-being and whose parents who always attended the FDS. They have an appropriate lifestyle, moderate level of mass media exposure and peer influence, high level of parental guidance/family influence, very passive curiosity level, and conservative sexual behavior. The teenage mother-respondents had experienced more of the economic consequences of teenage pregnancy and made use of social coping mechanism in dealing with teenage pregnancy. The socio-economic characteristics of the respondents were not significantly related to mass media exposure and sexual behavior. The educational attainment of respondents was significantly related to their lifestyle, peer influence, curiosity, and sexual abuse experience. Peer influence is also significantly related to parents’ education and father’s education was also significantly related to curiosity. Parental guidance was significantly related to age at teenage pregnancy. The respondents’ socio-economic characteristics have no significant relationships with the consequences of the teenage pregnancy. The respondents’ level of well-being was significantly related to coping mechanism of teenage mothers while all other socio-economic characteristics were not significantly related. The respondents’ lifestyle, sexual behavior and sexual abuse experience were significantly related to the consequences of teenage pregnancy but not with their mass media exposure, peer influence, parental guidance/family influence and curiosity. There were no significant relationships between associated factors of teenage pregnancy and the respondents’ coping mechanism. The consequence of teenage pregnancy was not significantly related to coping mechanism of teenage mothers.