Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health
Volume 34, Number 4, July/August 2002

 

Consequences for Infants of Parental Disagreement In Pregnancy Intention
TABLES

TABLE 1. Percentage distribution of births, by father's pregnancy intention, according to mother's intention and marital status, 1979-1992 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth
Mother's intention N Father's intention
Intended Mistimed Unwanted Not determined Total
Married women 5,514 66.8 16.2 3.5 13.5 100.0
Intended 3,556 92.1 3.2 0.6 4.1 100.0
Mistimed 1,149 26.9 63.9 4.4 4.8 100.0
Unwanted 241 26.6 13.7 50.6 9.1 100.0
Not determined 568 6.2 1.8 0.0 92.1 100.0
Unmarried women 2,614 41.8 21.3 14.6 22.3 100.0
Intended 920 79.2 8.4 2.9 9.5 100.0
Mistimed 928 29.1 45.9 14.7 10.3 100.0
Unwanted 418 20.8 11.2 51.2 16.8 100.0
Not determined 348 2.0 2.0 1.4 94.5 100.0
Notes: Marital status is measured as of the first interview after the birth. Father's intention is based on mother's report.

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TABLE 2. Selected outcomes of pregnancies among NLSY respondents, and child and maternal characteristics, by parents' pregnancy intention
Variable Both intended Neither intended Father only intended Mother only intended
(N=4,004) (N=1,763) (N=730) (N=239)
Outcomes
Prenatal care initiated (%)
  After 1st trimester 15.1 23.2* 26.7* 21.8*
  After 2nd trimester 4.9 6.5* 6.5 5.0
Smoked during pregnancy (%)
  Any 26.3 35.2* 33.9* 37.3*
  >=1 pack/day 7.6 11.1* 8.3 9.9
Low birth weight (%) 7.0 7.7 8.2 10.4*
Ever breastfed (%) 51.8 39.6* 33.3* 43.9*,†
Child characteristics
Male (%) 51.4 50.5 49.2 56.5†
Firstborn (%) 47.8 42.4* 35.3* 47.3*,†
Maternal characteristics
Hispanic (%) 19.6 16.2* 19.5 19.2
Black, non-Hispanic (%) 17.8 33.7* 45.5* 28.0*,†
AFQT score (percentile) 39.5 33.4* 25.8* 30.2*,†
Lived with both parents, age 14 (%) 69.3 58.4* 53.0* 57.7*
Age(mean)‡ 24.6 23.2* 23.8* 23.2*,†
>Education (mean years)‡ 12.3 11.8* 11.7* 11.5*
Never-married (%)‡ 11.6 34.8* 34.2* 31.8*
Divorced/separated (%)‡ 6.6 11.9* 14.7* 11.7*
AFDC recipient (%)‡ 9.7 22.0* 23.6* 23.1*
Retrospective pregnancy intention 66.3 69.4* 66.2 74.1†
*Significantly different from the figure for "both intended" at p<.05. †Significantly different from the figure for "father only intended" at p<.05. ‡Measured in year of child's birth. Notes: Results for couples for which either parent's intention was not determined are not shown. AFQT=Armed Forces Qualifications Test. AFDC=Aid to Families with Dependent Children.

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TABLE 3. Coefficients from logit analyses (and standard errors) indicating the effects of parents' pregnancy intentions on maternal behaviors related to infant health, by mother's marital status and type of analysis
Outcome Unmarried Married
Cross-sectional Fixed-effects Cross-sectional Fixed effects
Prenatal care after first trimester (N=2,369) (N=687) (N=5,058) (N=1,051)
Neither parent intended 0.46* (.13) 0.65* (.26) 0.18† (.11) 0.16 (.20)
Mother only intended 0.48* (.25) 1.43* (.52) -0.03 (.25) 0.21 (.50)
Father only intended 0.64* (.16) 0.59* (.29) 0.48* (.14) 0.55† (.28)
Both intended ref ref ref ref
p-value from *2
  Father irrelevant‡ .08 .02 .20 .42
  Equality of effects§ .50 .29 .10 .47
Smoked during pregnancy (N=2,427) (N=292) (N=5,176) (N=440)
Neither parent intended -0.02 (.12) -0.14 (.41) 0.36* (.10) 0.01 (.32)
Mother only intended 0.14 (.23) 1.10 (.99) 0.29 (.23) 1.47† (.82)
Father only intended 0.10 (.16) 0.37 (.49) 0.29* (.15) -0.02 (.54)
Both intended ref ref ref ref
p-value from *2
  Father irrelevant‡ .61 .33 .44 .20
  Equality of effects§ .64 .35 .90 .24
Ever breastfed (N=2,476) (N=286) (N=5,273) (N=923)
Neither parent intended 0.04 (.14) -0.88* (.45) -0.13 (.09) -0.28 (.22)
Mother only intended 0.57* (.25) -0.74 (1.26) -0.27 (.21) -1.83* (.74)
Father only intended -0.12 (.17) -0.93† (.55) -0.25† (.14) -0.29 (.31)
Both intended ref ref ref ref
p-value from *2
  Father irrelevant‡ .06 .84 .31 .05
  Equality of effects§ .05 .98 .63 .11
*p<.05. †p<.10. ‡Test of the joint hypothesis that the effect of mother only intended equals the effect of both parents intended and the effect of father only intended equals the effect of neither parent intended. §Test that the three coefficients shown are equal. Notes: ref=reference group. Standard errors are adjusted for heteroskedasticity and clustering among siblings. In addition to the categories listed in the table, analyses control for undetermined mother's pregnancy intention, undetermined father's pregnancy intention (if mother's intention is determined); region and urban residence in the year following the birth; mother's race and ethnicity; child's sex, birth order and year of birth; and characteristics of the mother's household when she was 14 (whether both parents were present, whether the household received newspapers or magazines, whether any household member had a library card and educational attainment of the mother's mother). The model also includes a control for the mother's score on the Armed Forces Qualifications Test, administered to the sample in 1980, and for whether the mother reported pregnancy intention during pregnancy or after delivery. In the unmarried sample, one marital status dummy (divorced/separated vs. never married) is included. In the fixed-effects analyses, effects are identified by variation among siblings; effects of explanatory variables that do not vary among siblings cannot be estimated; and observations contribute to the likelihood function only if there is variation within mother (i.e., among siblings) in the outcome.

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TABLE 4. Coefficients from logit analyses (and standard errors) indicating the effects of a pregnancy's being unintended by either parent on selected outcomes, by mother's marital status and type of analysis
Outcome Unmarried Married
Cross-sectional Fixed-effects Cross-sectional Fixed-effects
N Coefficient N Coefficient N Coefficient N Coefficient
Prenatal care
After first trimester 2,369 0.52* (.12) 687 0.69* (.23) 5,058 0.25* (.09) 1,051 0.27† (.17)
After second trimester 2,369 0.23 (.21) 232 0.16 (.51) 5,058 0.16 (.15) 420 0.01 (.30)
Smoked during pregnancy
Any 2,427 0.03 (.11) 292 0.14 (.35) 5,176 0.33* (.08) 440 0.19 (.27)
>=1 pack/day 2,427 -0.04 (.02) 208 0.45 (.50) 5,176 0.27* (.13) 253 0.39 (.38)
Low birth weight 2,444 0.01 (.17) 356 -0.21 (.35) 5,203 -0.24 (.15) 427 0.47 (.31)
Ever breastfed 2,476 0.05 (.12) 286 -0.89* (.41) 5,273 -0.17* (.07) 923 -0.33† (.19)
* p<.05. †p <.10. Notes: Standard errors are adjusted for heteroskedasticity and clustering among siblings. In addition to the categories listed in the table, analyses control for undetermined mother's pregnancy intention, undetermined father's pregnancy intention (if mother's intention is determined); region and urban residence in the year following the birth; mother's race and ethnicity; child's sex, birth order and year of birth; and characteristics of the mother's household when she was 14 (whether both parents were present, whether the household received newspapers or magazines, whether any household member had a library card and educational attainment of the mother's mother). The model also includes a control for the mother's score on the Armed Forces Qualifications Test, administered to the sample in 1980, and for whether the mother reported pregnancy intention during pregnancy or after delivery. In the unmarried sample, one marital status dummy (divorced/separated vs. never married) is included. In the fixed-effects analyses, effects are identified by variation among siblings; effects of explanatory variables that do not vary among siblings cannot be estimated; and observations contribute to the likelihood function only if there is variation within mother (i.e., among siblings) in the outcome.

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