Socio-economic Variable of Parents as a Correlate Promoting Teenage Pregnancy Among Medical Students in Delta State University, Abraka
Abstract Purpose: The incidence of teenage pregnancy has attracted global concern due to its impact on the teen’s maternal health, the overall wellbeing of the child and the society at large. This study examined socio-economic variable of parents as a correlate promoting teenage pregnancy among medical students in Delta State University, Abraka Delta State. Methods: The Ex-Post Facto method was chosen as the research design for the study. 294 female medical students were selected from a total of 982 students from the medical college using simple random sampling technique. The instruments used for data collection was a self-structured and well-designed questionnaire containing 25 multiple choice items based on the research questions developed in the study. 278 questionnaires were successful retrieved from the field and was used for data analysis. Frequency count, percentages, mean score and Pearson product moment correlation were employed as the statistical technique for data analysis. SPSS version 21.0 was utilized for data analysis. Results: Findings from this study revealed that parental income (p=0.003) and occupation (p=0.005) were the viable parents’ socio-economic variable promoting teenage pregnancy among medical students in Delta State University, Abraka when compared to educational background (p=0.343), religion (p=0.307) and marital status (p=0.053) variables that were not significantly related. Conclusions: It appears that significant number of adolescent female students who become pregnant has to leave school and this have a long-term implication for them as individual, their family and their community. Therefore, effective parent-daughter relationships and school-based reproductive health education programmes are strongly recommended.