[The social representation of pregnancy in adolescence. A Quebec study. ]

To gather information on the themes underlying social representations of teenage pregnancy among adolescent girls and boys and people working with them (health/social/school workers).

A qualitative approach was used. Adolescents and health/social/school workers were gathered separately in focus groups. A content analysis of their discourses was done.

This study shows that adolescents and health/social/school workers were not homogeneous groups. Their representations on teenage pregnancy varied and were sometimes contradictory. Several points of view were expressed that gave rise to four distinct positions: negative, positive, ambivalent and dynamic. It is from these four positions that four social representations of teenage pregnancy were defined: pregnancy as a problem, pregnancy as a project, pregnancy as a tension, pregnancy as a gain of power. Within these four representations, the discourses were divided into four dimensions: emotional, introspective, psychobiological and socio-economic.

The similarities and divergences between the discourses of adolescents and those of health/social/school workers reveal that the representations of teenage pregnancy are neither preconceived nor unalterable. They have functional properties of adaptation to changing realities, individual conditions, ongoing events, times of crisis and diverse social and cultural grounds. This study presents a new perspective on the topic of teenage pregnancy and questions people's attitude and relationship with teenagers with respect to this issue.