Exploring Knowledge, Beliefs, and Attitudes about Teen Pregnancy among Latino Parents in Arkansas

Arkansas has the highest incidence of teen pregnancy in 15- to 19-year-olds in the United States, and Latinas remain one of the cultural groups that are most at risk of becoming adolescent mothers. Teen mothers and their children are more likely to face poor socioeconomic conditions and negative health sequelae that perpetuate the cycle of poverty. Tailored interventions meant for families, communities, and/or churches should address both abstinence and other types of contraception to educate young people how to stay healthy, prevent unwanted pregnancy, and empower them to make informed decisions. To develop effective educational interventions, it is essential to understand the current knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes toward teen pregnancy among Latino parents in Arkansas.

Adult Latino parents were surveyed at two clinical sites, one church and one school in Little Rock between January 16, 2019 and February 23, 2019. The survey instrument was conducted in Spanish and included questions on demographics, knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about teenage pregnancy. Response frequencies, percentages and descriptive statistics were calculated for the dataset.

A total of 181 individuals completed the survey. Participants almost unanimously agreed with the statement that it is important to talk about sex with their children for their sexual health development. Nearly all respondents, 96.1%, believe that it is important to prevent teenage pregnancy. Most respondents agreed that they speak with their sons and daughters differently on the topic of sexual health. In our sample, only 17.8% of parents believed that abstinence-only education should be the primary focus of reproductive health education. "My family values" was most frequently cited as the predominant factor in shaping participants' beliefs about teen pregnancy, followed by a desire for their child to attend college or be economically stable before having a child.

Our findings indicate that based on attitudes toward sexual health, interventions should be tailored to certain groups based on children's sex and age and to parents who had children as teens themselves. Educational materials should emphasize the strengths of Latino culture, such as family values and desire for children to attain a college degree and economic stability before bearing children.