Assessing parenting attitudes among adolescents seeking healthcare with a brief pregnancy and parenting attitudes questionnaire.

Abstract

Purpose: To use modified Parenthood/Pregnancy Attitude, Timing and How important is pregnancy prevention (PATH) questions to assess parenting attitudes and reproductive desires in adolescents and young adults (AYAs).

Methods: Between November 2020 and January 2022, we recruited participants 13-22 years old via a convenience sample from an Adolescent Medicine outpatient clinic at an urban children's hospital to participate in a cross-sectional survey. The survey was self-administered on a tablet and was adapted from the original PATH questions.

Results: 300 adolescents completed the survey. Median age 17 years, 87.3% identified their assigned sex at birth as female, 43.0% identified as Black, and 55.3% had public insurance. 61.3% reported ever being sexually active. 62.7% reported a desire for future children, 70.2% listed a time frame or specific age when they would like children. Those who had ever had sexual activity were more likely to desire future children. Most participants (68.5%) reported pregnancy prevention was very important or important.

Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first study assessing parenting attitudes and reproductive desires of AYA patients assigned sex female at birth and assigned sex male at birth in a clinical setting. Most AYAs reported they were sexually active, had a desire for future children, had a certain time frame in mind for having children, and would want to prevent pregnancy until that time. Assessing AYA's parenting attitudes and reproductive desires supports the use of shared decision making and the provision of reproductive health counseling aligned with patients' preferences and priorities.