Abstract

BARRETO-HAUZEUR, Eliane; SAENZ-LOZADA, MMaría L.; VELANDIA-SEPULVEDA, FFabiola  and  GOMEZ-GONZALEZ, Jeny. The relationship-based meaning of teenage pregnancy in Bogotá regarding the family system. Rev. salud pública [online]. 2013, vol.15, n.6, pp.815-825. ISSN 0124-0064.

Objectives Ascertaining the meaning of teenage pregnancy for teenagers and their immediate families. Methodology This was an analytical, cross-sectional, exploratory, qualitative study. Data was obtained through in-depth interviews with 10 pregnant teenagers and their immediate families, plus a focus group involving another 12 pregnant teenagers. Results Analysis by category revealed a tenuous limit between adolescents' narrative identity and a lack of such identity and identity based on the concept of family. Pregnancy provokes a series of responses within families, including fear in a pregnant adolescent and her partner, disappointment on the part of the parents, social isolation and eventual acceptance and redefinition of such pregnancy. Conclusions Pregnancy can provide the means for an adolescent to redress a deficit in her emotional needs, such condition keeping the family together at the expense of a teenager's emancipation and may represent an intergenerational legacy.

Keywords : Adolescent; pregnancy; family; symptom; family relationships.

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