The adolescent experience of pregnancy and abortion: a developmental analysis.

Previous literature suggests that illegitimate pregnancy is a consequence of demographic factors, idiosyncratic family situations, or neurotic conditions. The author rejects these conclusions and hypothesizes that the experience of pregnancy in adolescence may be the reflection of an exacerbated developmental crisis. 3 clinically and statistically significant patterns in the experience of and motivation for pregnancy and abortion emerge, 1 for each of the 3 adolescent substages: early, middle, and late. 13 unwed pregnant adolescents were included in an in-depth study. The girls were between 15 and 26 years old, all middle class. The 5 areas used as measures of developmental stages were 1) the person most related to the girl's conflicts, 2) the quality and style of object relationships, 3) the girl's view of herself, 4) her use of defense mechanisms, and 5) her goals and interests. From their answers, the girls were divided into the 3 adolescent groups. Age, demographic characteristics, and diagnosed personality style do not correlate with stages of adolescence. Attitudes having to do with the pregnancy were tested along the following lines: 1) knowledge of conception and contraception, 2) motivations for the pregnancy, 3) experience of pregnancy, 4) experience and anticipation of motherhood, 5) attitudes toward abortion, 6) perception of the fetus, 7) fantasies of change, and 8) sense of the effect of the pregnancy on the future. The answers given grouped themselves more or less according to the 3 groups of adolescence into which the girls had previously been divided. Each adolescent group viewed the pregnancy differently. No deleterious effects and no striking gains resulted from the abortions. The girls who appeared to mature most from the experience were those already closest to maturity.