CHAPTER 1

THEE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Introduction

Over the past few decades, teenage pregnancy has become a public concern which has

generated a great deal of attention in the locality. It is one of the major factors that affect the

population growth in the Philippines. Furthermore, it is considered as one of the major

problems of the government is facing of today. Increasing awareness of social and economic

consequences of teenage pregnancy has led to a consensus opinion among policy makers and

the public that teenage pregnancy and child bearing is a significant social problem. It has

been linked to an array of other social issues, such as welfare dependency, child health and

well being, out of wedlock births, fatherhood responsibility, child abuse and neglect, school

drop-out and workforce development.

The Philippines teenage pregnancy rate has increased by 60% in the year 2000-2010,

according to Philippine National Statistics Office. Teenage pregnancy often occurs between

the ages 15-19 years old, often in this age the girls are still studying. With the early

pregnancy the girls usually have to abandon their education to give birth or raise their child.

Girls who become pregnant are expelled because it goes against the school thus delaying the

chance of earning a degree that will help them in providing for their child. Education become

a lesser priority and is often delayed until they are able to leave the children at home are

financially stable. But there are girls who are studying as well as taking care of their child and

they are who we call student mothers. The burdens for these girls have doubles as to they take

care of school as well as their child at home.

The life of student mother is no easy to feat they have to juggle their time between

attending their classes, making their requirements, taking care of their child and taking care
of the house. They become the primary caregiver of their child and are expected to rear their

child well. Many of the student’s mothers also engage in working part-time to help in the

financial burdens of both studying and caring for the child. But, this become another

disadvantage as it takes up time and effort on the part of the student mothers.

Teenage pregnancy has a lot of effects on educational development of teenagers who

are the victims of this phenomenon. The Philippines government and other religious

institutions are studying every angle to look for ways to reduce untimely pregnancy among

teenager. We noticed that in Barangay Sampaguita, teenage pregnancy is rampant in the

community. Every year, there is a highly increasing rate of early teenage pregnancy so it has

been noted and well documented that today’s teenagers face more sexual temptation than

previous generations. They seem to be more aware of sex and susceptible to the dangers of

illicit sex. Today’s society is more bombarded with sexually oriented materials in the

environment. The teenager are more vulnerable to sexual temptations.

Conceptual Framework

Based on the increasing causes of teenage pregnancy in the Philippines and found out

that Philippines has the highest cases all through the Asian Region. Filipino communities,

families and most especially to teenagers must be smart enough to counter this phenomenon.

The first box shows the independent variables which point out the major causes in our society

and in the second box, it shows the dependent variables which take the consequences of the

early teenage pregnancy and the impact to physical health and social behavior. An

independent variable can be the cause of sex education to their teenagers which usually

misunderstood. Community has a big role on teenage pregnancy. Peers and friends of

teenagers might be one cause, which happen to go with peers that having a positive attitude

towards early pregnancy. The dependent variables indicate the impact of teenage pregnancy
 to physical and social behavior. These are teenagers who got pregnant but determine to

pursue their dreams despite of the negative feedbacks of the society.

Research Paradigm

INDEPENDENT VARIABLE DEPENDENT

VARIABLE

TEENAGE PREGNANCY ITS IMPACT TO PHYSICAL

AND SOCIAL BEHAVIOR

Figure above showing the Independent and Dependent Variable of the study.

Statement of the Problem

This research aims to find out the impact of Physical Health and Social Behavior in

Sampaguita, Solana, Cagayan.

Specifically, it aims to answer the following:

1. What are the factors contributing to teenage pregnancy?

2. To what extent is the impact of early pregnancy to the physical health of the

respondents?

3. To what extent is the impact of teenage pregnancy to the social behavior of

respondents?
 Research Hypothesis

Teenage pregnancy significantly contributes the impact to physical and social behavior

among teenagers and out-of-school youth in Sampaguita, Solana, Cagayan

Significance of the Study

The result of this study will be a great benefit to the students, out-of-school youth,

parents, teachers, community and future researchers. It will help them to gathered

informations about the increasing rate of Teenage pregnancy. This result will provide the

STUDENTS with some knowledge and to be aware of the possible outcomes regarding

teenage pregnancy. This study will also benefit the OUT-OF-SCHOOL YOUTH to be

aware of not getting pregnant at such young age and for them to realized that they have a big

chance for getting back to school. It will also benefit the PARENTS to realize their big

responsibility in educating their teenagers, protecting and guiding them from indulging early

sex. It will provide the TEACHERS for they could be informed how education is really

important for the children and to enables them to guide and identify the factors of Teenage

pregnancy. This study will benefit the COMMUNITY to provide informations and assist

them to conduct a programs that will help reduce the increasing rate of Early Pregnancy

among adolescents. Lastly, the FUTURE RESEARCHERS serves as their guide and basis

for their background about their research.

Scope and Delimitation

This scope of this study focused on the Teenage Pregnancy and its impact to their physical

and social behavior. This study is only limited to all teenagers who got pregnant in

Sampaguita, Solana, Cagayan. There were ( ) respondents in the study. Moreover, this study

conduct in the School Year 2019-2020 2nd Semester

Definition of Terms
Teenage pregnancy – refers to any pregnancy on women that took place between the ages 13

– 19 years old.

Teen aged Students – refers to students that ages a number that end in “teen” as the last

syllable such as13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19.

Rate – refers to a quantity from a recent quantity

STIS – refers to Sexually Transmitted Infections

STDS – refers to Transmitted Diseases

 CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter includes the review of related literature and studies which the researchers

have pursued to shed light on the topic under study.

LOCAL STUDIES

Sexuality and desire are inherent components of the human psyche. These influence a

person’s attitudes and behavior. It is also heightened during certain periods of a person’s

lifetime. Adolescence is one such period. Behavior and attitude of the youth change not

because they are losing what some would loosely refer to as “moral values” but because these

do evolve through time as the environment and contexts do. Their perceptions on issues may

vary from that of previous generations. It is therefore important to understand the issue of

teen pregnancy in this context, probing shifts and trends in behaviors, attitudes and

perceptions of the young.

Pogoy et.al (2014) stated that teenage mothers are not in a position to go back to

school after delivery as they are forced to look after their children. In some cases, these

young mothers’ physical health conditions do not make it conducive for them to go back to

school. While some young women may be prevented from going back to school as a result of

these factors.

According to Santos (2017), This is the face of teen pregnancy in the Philippines:

rampant, frequent, most common among poor and uneducated women. Mothers have just

entered their teens and fathers are sometimes twice their age.
 Every day, there are about 500 Filipino teenagers like Joy who become mothers. The

Philippines has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the region. Government statistics

show that more than 18,000 girls between the ages of 15-19 years old have already had two

children and another almost 3,000 girls of that age group already have had 3. Some

consequences of teen pregnancy are easy to identify: girls who can’t finish school, their

developing bodies are not fully equipped to take on the demands of pregnancy, the babies

they give birth to are most likely to be malnourished or suffer from neglect. But the

ramifications stretch out over an entire lifetime.

The reality is that young people are constantly making decisions. It is incumbent upon

society to help them make the right decisions because they are capable of doing so. The right

decision could be abstinence or protecting themselves with modern methods. The teen

pregnancy situation in the country paints a picture that negates the best interest of the youth,

especially young girls. The lack and, most of the time, absence of education that could reduce

risky behavior is not in their best interest. Young girls have the right to know what is

happening to their bodies. Knowledge breeds responsibility and the necessary life skills to

care for one’s self.

According to Galabo and Gempes (2017), teen pregnancy continues to be a problem

for families, educators, health care professionals, and the government. Pregnant students

experienced physical and emotional distress, anxiety of the unknown, shame and humiliation,

changes and prohibitions, love and support of significant others. Pregnant students tried to

cope the situation by means of apathy, tenacity and turning to support systems.

Philippines ranks third highest in teenage pregnancy and has an increasingly early

childbearing rate compared to its neighbors in ASEAN. The impact of teenage pregnancy

affects the physical, emotional, social, spiritual well being of the adolescents. Teenage
pregnancy is concomitant with a wide range of ensuing adverse health and psychosocial

outcomes.

Natividad (2014) stated that teenage pregnancy carries other significant non-health

risks which are specific to this stage in the life course. For example, when a teenager bears a

child and consequently either marries formally or enters into a consensual union, she puts

herself at risk of not finishing her education and of limiting her chances of realizing her full

potential by being burdened with child care when she herself is still, almost a child. If the

teenager remains unmarried following a pregnancy, she risks social stigma from having an

out-of-wedlock pregnancy and of having to bear its negative consequences. At the aggregate

level, a high teenage pregnancy rate contributes to high population growth as teenage mothers

will have considerably longer exposure to the risk of pregnancy than those who enter into

marital unions at a later age.

FOREIGN STUDIES

A teenage pregnancy can change the course of a young mom’s life. It puts her in a

place where she’s responsible not only for herself, but also for another human being.

Carrying a baby and becoming a mom not only creates physical changes. Women also go

through mental changes. The researchers found that girls ranging from 15 to 19 experienced

postpartum depression at a rate that was twice as high as women aged 25 and older. Teen

mothers are more likely to experience posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than other

teenage women, as well. This could be because teen moms are more likely to have gone

through mental and/or physical abuse.

According to Macutkiewicz and Macbeth (2017), adolescent pregnancy has a high-

risk profile as the impact of multiple factors, including medical complications, lower

educational level and long-term socio-economic consequences that confer increased risk of
lifespan vulnerabilities to both mother and child. However, there is a lack of understanding of

how adolescents themselves understand adolescent pregnancy. Understanding the adolescent

perspective on pregnancy could generate new insights into how policy makers as well as

health and social care providers respond to the challenges of adolescent pregnancy.

Fletcher (2011) stated that There has been considerable policy and public interest in

the consequences of teenage childbearing for mothers, fathers, and the children. While there

is a large body of research that examines the economic and educational effects of teenage

childbearing for the mothers and children, less work has examined whether teenage

motherhood affects the health behaviors of the mothers.

Teenage pregnancy has long been identified as a risk factor for adverse perinatal and

long term outcomes. It may pose many societal challenges and as a result require collective

efforts of many to provide solutions. It has been considered “social ill” and has always

challenged moral and ethnical sensibilities. One of the most prevalent dilemmas today is

about teenage pregnancy. These rates have been increasing and remain fairly high overall.

According to Eisenberg et.al (2006), Parents' communication with teens, teens' own

faith and religious practices, and parental involvement can help to combat these challenges.

Some studies indicate when parents communicate clear messages to their teens to avoid

pregnancy and STDs, those teens are less likely to be engaged in negative sexual behaviors.

The topic of teenage pregnancy is sensitive for all subjects of study are young girls

undergoing a life changing process of motherhood to understand their lives, their situation,

their difficulties and issues. However, the girl needs to face some traumatic and emotional

moments. They had to grow up both physically and emotionally and role models who could

encourage them in this direction were few.

 Moore (1993), cited in Healthy Teen Network, “There is a high correlation between

living in poverty, lack of education and child birth. A teenager having a baby is more likely

to face critical social issue like poverty, poor education, risky behaviors that lead to a poor

health issue and health welfare. Social learnings theory can be effectively used to understand

occurrence and reoccurrence of teenage pregnancy. The concepts of differential associations,

definitions, limitations and differential reinforcement can be used to explore the different

facets within a teenage mom’s life and their decisions to become a mother early.

Teenage pregnancies could be avoided by using condoms and other contraceptives but

it will break due to improper applications or physical damage which can lead to pregnancy. It

is a socio economic challenges and unimportant health problem. The study also found that the

main causes of teenage pregnancies were lack of education and poverty.

 CHAPTER 3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter deals with the research methodology of the study, including research

design, locale, respondents, sampling procedure and data-collection instrument.

Research Design

This study used the descriptive method of research. Our general procedure of

describing had the chief purpose of description of the teenagers and out-of-school youth that

might have affected by their own physical and social behavior.

Research Locale

The research locale refers to the place where the data are collected. This study was

conducted in Sampaguita, Solana, Cagayan. Sampaguita is one of the barangays in the

Municipality of Solana.

Respondents and Sampling Procedure

The study will use of ( ) teenagers in Sampaguita, Solana, Cagayan. The

respondents are those who experienced early pregnancy.

Random sampling methods were used in this study so that we could make use of all

the data efficiently. The respondents were selected based on how has the best qualify in

answering the specific questions in this research. Best qualifiers were respondents who

actually experience early pregnancy.

Data Gathering Procedure

 The researchers personally administered the research instruments to the respondents.

They discussed the significance of the study and accomplished the distribution of the

instruments properly.

Research Instrument

A questionnaire was used to gathered data, it is consisted of items that determined the

Impact of teenage pregnancy to the physical health and social behavior of teenagers.