Abstract

PIRES, Raquel et al. Contributo de fatores individuais, sociais e ambientais para a decisão de prosseguir uma gravidez não planeada na adolescência: Um estudo caracterizador da realidade portuguesa. Aná. Psicológica [online]. 2015, vol.33, n.1, pp.19-38. ISSN 0870-8231.  https://doi.org/10.14417/ap.827.

The aim of the current study was to explore the simultaneous contribution of individual, social, and environmental factors, as well as the possible interactions between them to the decision to continue an adolescent pregnancy after the abortion on women´s demand has been legalized in Portugal. The sample consisted of 276 adolescents who became unintentionally pregnant and contacted with healthcare services within the legal period for induced abortion: 133 adolescents who chose to continue the pregnancy and 143 who chose to terminate the pregnancy. Data were collected between 2008 and 2013, in 53 healthcare centers of all country areas. Not having thought about both available options (i.e., continuing vs. terminating the pregnancy), belonging to families of low socioeconomic status and with adolescent pregnancy history, having dropped out of school and having lived in areas with higher population density and less educated females predicted the decision to continue the pregnancy. The lower the adolescents’ age, the more frequent was the decision to continue the pregnancy, but only when adolescents’ had not thought about both options. The effect of local religiosity differed according to the adolescents’ religious involvement. These findings have important implications for clinical practice and research on adolescents’ reproductive decisions.

Keywords : Abortion on women’s demand; Adolescent pregnancy; Motherhood; Reproductive decision.

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