Domestic violence and trauma care in teenage pregnancy: does paternal age make a difference?

To determine whether teenagers partnered with adult men were more likely to report domestic violence and trauma-related care during pregnancy than teenagers partnered with male peers.

Nonexperimental, descriptive comparative design.

Postpartum unit in a large, urban teaching hospital.

English-speaking teenagers who recently delivered a live infant.

Semistructured interviews lasting from 30 minutes to 2 hours.

The Abuse Assessment Screen, the Danger Assessment Scale.

Domestic violence and trauma-related care during pregnancy.

Teenagers with adult partners were not more likely to report domestic violence or seek trauma-related care during pregnancy than teenagers with peer-age partners.

Researchers, policy makers, and health care providers should continue to address violence occurring among pregnant teenagers by identifying subgroups who may be at increased risk of abuse.