Pschychological effects of Teenage Pregnancy - Research Paper Example

Summary of Survey Design Psychological Effects of Teenage Pregnancy A century ago, teenage pregnancy was not considered an issue at all. However, the same view cannot be considered valid today in the wake of rapid social and cultural changes that have occurred in the last century. In the recent decades, research into this subject revealed that teenage pregnancy can have menacing social and psychological implications. The apprehension is sometimes exaggerated to the point where teenage pregnancy is shorthand for social pathology (Arai 92).

This encouraged the researcher to get interested in the subject and to make a quantitative endeavor that throws light on the facts of the subject. Since the subject of teenagers having children is an ongoing discussion, the researcher is interested in evaluating the reactions of teenage mothers to the results of the research study. The evaluation helps us understand how human service organizations provide services for teenage mothers and whether or not the services are adequate to attend to the problems of the rising number of teenage mothers.

“If teen pregnancy is related to depression, then girls who become parents at a young age will have a higher frequency of suffering from depression.” The study assumes importance because of the possibility that an early pregnancy can be important causal event in altering the life course of adolescent mothers (Whitman et al. 13). The researcher intends to verify the hypothesis by undertaking a survey and consolidating its results The principles of Informed Consent, beneficence and nonmaleficence, justice in the distribution of benefits, relationship of trust and scientific integrity will be followed.

Ethical considerations as prescribed by the American Psychological Association (APA) will be followed to the extent possible. The responses will be in terms of the goals, memories and values of the participants and therefore there is a possibility of the information gathered being superficial. Since the method is not experimental, cause-effect relationships may not be covered adequately. Since the subject is delicate, social desirability may be at stake, so self-reported data may not correspond to actual behaviour of respondents.

Surveys indicate that more than 1 million US teens become pregnant each year (Macionis 232). The study will try to establish if there exists a direct connection between teenage pregnancy and depression. It will also focus on finding the measures necessary to prevent or reduce the incidence of depression in cases of teenage pregnancy. References Arai, Lisa. Teenage Pregnancy: The Making and Unmaking of a Problem. Bristol (UK): The Policy Press, University of Bristol, 2009. Macionis, John J. Sociology.

New Delhi: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009. Whitman, Thomas L, Borkowski, John G, Keogh, Deborah A & Weed, Keri. Interwoven Lives: Adolescent Mothers and Their Children. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2009.