Abstract
Teenage pregnancy is linked to poverty, poor child physical and psychological well-being, child maltreatment, family dysfunction, and reduced educational attainment. Furthermore, less than half of teenage mothers birthing a child prior to age 18 earn a high school diploma. Consequently, alternative academic programs have been developed to combat these maladaptive outcomes; however, the effects of such outcomes, particularly from perspectives of program graduates, are not well understood. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to explore outcomes of an alternative school program from the perspectives of pregnant and parenting teenage students who have graduated from such a program. Graduates of an alternative high school program (N = 8; Mage = 20.75 years, SD = 1.67) were interviewed and data were qualitatively analyzed for themes. Emergent themes included improved parenting skills, academic and career development, life skills acquisition, and personal and positive relationship development. Educational and developmental benefits for participants’ children, program challenges, and opportunities for improvement were also described. Overall, results demonstrate that improving child well-being can be accomplished by promoting a holistic perspective to the physical, emotional, and mental health of teenage mothers while also providing educational opportunities. The application and generalization of program outcomes for others in related fields are discussed.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the research assistants, Abbey Hammell, Amy McAulay, Amber Saathoff, and Madison Smith, and the staff at Hope Academy for assisting us in conducting the study. We also are grateful to the participants for sharing their experiences for this research. Finally, we also acknowledge the financial support from the Special Projects Grant from Wisconsin’s Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board.
Funding
This study was funded by a Special Projects Grant from Wisconsin’s Child Abuse & Neglect Prevention Board. The first two authors (Amanda Brouwer and Rebecca Foster) received financial compensation from the grant for their time conducting this research. Amanda Jalensky was employed by the Family and Children’s Center (where the Hope Academy program resides) at the time of the research study.
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All procedures performed in this study involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institution and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
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Brouwer, A.M., Foster, R.H. & Jalensky, A. An Alternative School Model for Pregnant and Parenting Teens: A Qualitative Analysis. Child Adolesc Soc Work J 36, 471–484 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-018-0575-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-018-0575-z