Pespectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health | |
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Association of Early Childbearing And Low Cognitive Ability |
| TABLE 1. Means (and standard deviations) and percentages reflecting cognitive, reproductive and social characteristics of women in case-control studies of early and repeat early childbearing, National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY), 1979-1990 | ||||||
| Characteristic | Early | Repeat | ||||
| Cases | Controls | X2 or t | Cases | Controls | X2 or t | |
| (N=706) | (N=1,383) | (N=336) | (N=379) | |||
| Cognitive | ||||||
| Mean score as NLSY percentile rank | 21.6 (25.5) | 37.0 (26.9) | 15.0*** | 18.2 (16.8) | 24.6 (20.0) | 4.6*** |
| % in first quartile | 38.0 | 17.0 | na | 46.0 | 32.0 | na |
| % in second quartile | 28.0 | 26.0 | na | 26.0 | 29.0 | na |
| % in third quartile | 23.0 | 25.0 | na | 21.0 | 25.0 | na |
| % in fourth quartile | 11.0 | 32.0 | 163.9*** | 7.0 | 15.0 | 21.6*** |
| Reproductive | ||||||
| Mean age at first sex (range, 9-26 yrs.) | 15.2 (1.2) | 17.5 (1.9) | 32.2*** | 14.9 (1.2) | 15.5 (1.1) | 6.5*** |
| % who had sexuality | ||||||
| education | 47.0 | 65.0 | 13.2*** | 43.9 | 49.9 | ns |
| % with right answer to pregnancy question | 25.2 | 36.4 | 26.6*** | 22.2 | 27.9 | ns |
| Social | ||||||
| Mean yrs. of expected schooling (range, 1-18) | 12.1 (2.3) | 14.1 (2.2) | 18.8*** | 11.6 (2.3) | 12.5 (2.2) | 4.9*** |
| Mean self-esteem score (range, 15-32) | 23.7 (2.3) | 23.8 (2.2) | ns | 23.6 (2.4) | 23.8 (2.3) | ns |
| % in poverty | 48.0 | 30.8 | 105.6*** | 57.4 | 51.8 | ns |
| ***p<.001. Notes: Early childbearing is defined as having a first birth before age 18; repeat early childbearing is defined as having a first birth before age 18 and a second birth before age 20. Percentages were compared through chi-square analyses, means through t-tests. na=not applicable. ns=not significant. | ||||||
| TABLE 2. Means and percentage distributions reflecting women's reproductive and social characteristics, by quartile of cognitive score | |||||
| Characteristic | First | Second | Third | Fourth | X2 or rs |
| quartile | quartile | quartile | quartile | ||
| Reproductive | |||||
| Mean age at first sex (range, 9-26 yrs.) | 16.0 | 16.6 | 16.7 | 17.4 | 0.24*** |
| % who had sexuality education | 20.0 | 27.0 | 25.0 | 28.0 | 36.96*** |
| % with right answer to pregnancy question | 14.0 | 19.0 | 24.0 | 43.0 | 191.4*** |
| Social | |||||
| Mean yrs. of expected schooling (range, 1-18) | 12.1 | 13.0 | 13.7 | 14.9 | 0.41*** |
| Mean self-esteem score (range, 15-32) | 23.4 | 23.7 | 23.9 | 24.0 | 0.09*** |
| % in poverty | 39.0 | 29.0 | 20.0 | 12.0 | 201.6*** |
| ***p<.001. Note: Percentages were compared through chi-square analyses, means through Spearman rank | |||||
| correlation. | |||||
| TABLE 3. Odds ratios (and 95% confidence intervals) from logistic regression analyses reflecting the risk of early childbearing and of repeat early childbearing, by selected characteristics | ||
| Characteristic | Early | Repeat |
| Cognitive ability | ||
| Fourth quartile (ref) | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| Third quartile | 1.20 (1.10-1.40)* | 1.20 (1.00-1.50)* |
| Second quartile | 1.20 (1.10-1.60) | 1.30 (0.98-1.70) |
| First quartile | 2.00 (1.70-3.70)*** | 2.90 (1.70-4.90)*** |
| Age at first sex | 0.38 (0.33-0.41)*** | 0.67 (0.58-0.76)*** |
| Sexuality education | ||
| Yes | 0.63 (0.48-0.79)*** | .ns |
| No (ref) | 1.00 | .ns |
| Highest grade expected | 0.80 (0.80-0.85)*** | 0.88 (0.82-0.94)*** |
| Lived in poverty | ||
| Yes | 1.80 (1.40-2.40)*** | .ns |
| No (ref) | 1.00 | .ns |
| R2 | 0.39 | 0.10 |
| *p<.05. ***p<.001. Notes: Early childbearing is defined as having a first birth before age 18; repeat early childbearing is defined as having a first birth before age 18 and a second birth before age 20. ns=not significant. ref=reference group. | ||
| TABLE 4. Odds ratios (and 95% confidence intervals) from logistic regression analyses reflecting the risk of early childbearing, by selected characteristics, according to poverty status | ||
| Characteristic | Nonpoor | Poor |
| (N=1,216) | (N=775) | |
| Cognitive ability | ||
| Fourth quartile (ref) | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| Third quartile | 1.30 (1.10-1.60)*** | 1.00 (0.78-1.20) |
| Second quartile | 1.40 (1.10-1.80)** | 1.00 (0.70-1.30) |
| First quartile | 3.00 (1.70-5.10)*** | 1.10 (0.60-2.10) |
| Age at first sex | 0.41 (0.36-0.47)*** | 0.32 (0.27-0.39)*** |
| Sexuality education | ||
| Yes | 0.66 (0.46-0.93)** | 0.61 (0.41-0.89)** |
| No (ref) | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| Highest grade expected | 0.79 (0.73-0.86)*** | 0.82 (0.75-0.90)*** |
| R2 | 0.33 | 0.40 |
| **p<.01. ***p<.0001. Notes: Early childbearing is defined as having a first birth before age 18. na=not applicable. ref=reference group. | ||
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© copyright 2002, The Alan Guttmacher Institute. |