The Influence of Parent-Daughter Relationship on American Teenagers Early Sexual and Reproductive Behavior

Afra R. Chowdhury, Brown University

The study analyses the effect of parents' relationship with their daughter on her risk of pregnancy during adolescence. Prior research suggests a positive association between growing up in a non-intact family and the risk of teenage pregnancy. Reproductive and sexual behaviors of adolescents also differ according to their childhood socialization, level of social and parental control and family instability. This article investigates the impact of parent-daughter relationship in early adolescence (12 to 14 years) and its effect on overall teenage sexual behavior and the risk of becoming pregnant in different family settings. Nationally representative data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 is analyzed with a discrete time hazard model to investigate the effects of the quality of youth parent relationship on the hazard of becoming sexually active before or at age 15, and the risk of teenage pregnancy. A logistic regression model is used to measure the risk of not using contraceptive during the first intercourse.