Home Environment : Perceptions by Pregnant and Non-Pregnant Adolescents

The first two years of a child’s life are a particularly critical time period for obesity prevention. As such, an increasing amount of research across the world is aimed at understanding factors that impact early childhood obesity and developing interventions that target these factors effectively. With this growing interest, new and interdisciplinary research teams are developing to meet this research need. Due to rapid growth velocity during this phase of the lifespan, typical assessments used in older populations may not be valid or applicable in infants, and investigators need to be aware of the pros and cons of specific methodological strategies. Therefore, this paper provides an overview of methodology available to assess obesity-related factors in the areas of anthropometry and body composition, nutrient intake, and energy expenditure, in infants ages 0-2 years. Gold standard measures for body composition, such as DXA or other imaging techniques are costly, require highly trained personnel, and are limited for research application. Nutrient intake methodology primarily includes surveys and questionnaires completed via parent proxy report. In terms of energy expenditure, methods of calorimetry are expensive and may not differentiate between different activities. Questionnaires or physical activity sensors offer another way of energy expenditure assessment. However, questionnaires have certain recall bias while the sensors require further validation. Overall, in addition to understanding the pros and cons of each assessment tool, researchers should take into consideration the experience of the interdisciplinary team of investigators, as well as the cost and availability of measures at their institution.


LIST OF TABLES
page Table   1 Counseling and. Development (AACD) has addressed the issue in its several journals as well as the Guidepost. Most recently/ Maynard and Olson (1987) discussed the importance of using diagnostic inventories/ especially by those school counselors who would involve family members in the counseling experience.
How can one identify those issues contributing to adolescents at risk for pregnancy? What conditions exist in the home environment which contribute to risk? Is it possible to predict accurately those adolescents who are likely to become pregnant? Perlman/ Klerman & Kinard (1981) investigated the relationship of economic and education variables to adolescent pregnancy. Economic variables/ especially median income/ were found to be more significant than education variables in the prediction of adolescent pregnancy. Rader/ DeMoyne/ Brown & Richardt (1978) looked at factors such as denial/ masochism/ guilt and risk-taking as these relate to unwanted pregnancy and found no support for greater guilt or risk-taking but did find significantly higher levels of denial and masochism in those women who chose to abort their pregnancy. Kasanin & Handschin (1944) studied the attitudes of unmarried pregnant women with regard to their relationship with parents# siblings and home environment. They found that the majority of women expressed negative or ambivalent feelings toward their father and mother.
In addition, attempts have been made to identify certain populations having a high risk potential for pregnancy (Abernethy, Robbins, Abernethy, Grunebaum & Weiss, 1975). Abernethy, et al., were able to identify general trends but no specific measures to predict high risk in pregnancy. Two of the general trends that were noted are promiscuity and irresponsible use of contraceptives.
Several studies have identified certain home environments and linked them with the incidence of drug abuse (Rees & Wilbom, 1983;Kadushin, 1971). Both drug use and teenage pregnancy have been shown to be related to peer acceptance and rebellion against parental authority (Kadushin, 1971). It may be that many of the issues involved with drug abuse are present in teenage pregnancy.
Not only has home environment been studied with respect to drugs, it has also been studied where there were disturbed adolescents in the family (Fischer, 1980). Fischer found that when a disturbed adolescent was involved, families had greater disagreement about family related issues, were more rigid and had less clarity about expectations.
Another study utilized the entire family in therapy after the occurrence of a divorce to identify the significance of home environment (Goldman & Coane, 1977 Other studies have identified certain concerns that adolescent fathers face. These studies closely link adolescent pregnancy with home environment in that the teenage fathers came from homes in which teenage pregnancy was common (Rivara, Sweeney & Henderson, 1985;Elster & Panzarine, 1983).
While much research has focused on the study of adolescence and drug use, self image and delinquency, little research was identified which addressed the relationship of the home environment to adolescent pregnancy. One such study sought to identify differences of adaptability and cohesion of families with and without pregnant adolescents. The study did not find any significant differences in that both groups were found to be functioning in the "balanced" levels of adaptability and cohesion (Ouslan, 1984). Balanced meaning that there are amounts of both adaptabilty and cohesion that lead to high levels of family functioning.
The purpose of this study is intended to answer the question: What are the differences between pregnant and nonpregnant adolescent's attitudes about their home environment?

Hypotheses
To address this question of attitude regarding home environment and the relationship of that to adolescent pregnancy, the following ten hypotheses were formulated: 1) There will be no significant difference between the pregnant adolescent (PA) and the non-pregnant adolescent (NPA) groups as determined by the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales (FACES) on the Family Adaptability Scale (perceived responses).
2) There will be no significant difference between the PA and the NPA groups as determined by FACES on the Family Cohesion Scale (perceived responses).

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3) There will be no significant difference between the PA and the NPA groups as determined by FACES on the Family Adaptability Scale (ideal responses).
4) There will be no significant difference between the PA and the NPA groups as determined by FACES on the Family Cohesion Scale (ideal responses).
5) There will be no significant difference between the perceived, and the ideal scores on the Family Adaptability Scale within the PA group.
6) There will be no significant difference between the perceived and the ideal scores on the Family Cohesion Scale within the PA group.
7) There will be no significant difference between the perceived and the ideal scores on the Family Adaptability Scale within the NPA group.
8) There will be no significant difference between the perceived and the ideal scores on the Family Cohesion Scale within the NPA group.

Population
The population consisted of females enrolled in high schools in the metropolitan area comprising Omaha/-Nebraska. Two groups were identified; pregnant adolescents (PA) and non-pregnant adolescents (NPA). Students known to have been or were currently pregnant were identified by contacting high school counselors who selected a pool of participants (N=58). The average age of the pregnant group was 16.48 years old. About one forth (28%) spent most of their childhood with both parents. Over half (55%) spent the imjority of their childhood with only their mothers. None indicated that they spent their childhood years with only their father and seventeen percent spent their childhood with someone other than their parents.
Students known not to be pregnant and attending the same schools were also selected (N=53). The average age of the nonpregnant group was 16.89 years old. Over half of the nonpregnant group (51%) spent their childhood years with both parents. Approximately one third (32%) spent most of their childhood with their mothers. Less than ten percent (4%) spent their childhood with their father and thirteen percent spent their childhood with someone other than their parents.

Instrumentation
The Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluative Scale (FACES III) developed by Olson (1935)   In hypothesis #3, it appears that the NPA's wanted an even higher level of adaptability in their home environment than did their PA counterparts. In hypotheses #5 & #6 the PA group reported a desire for significantly higher levels of adaptability and cohesion than they are currently experiencing. Hypotheses #7 & #8 reflect that the NPA group desire significantly higher levels of both adaptablity and cohesion than they are currently experiencing.

Discussion
One way to give meaning to the data is to use the established norms and cutting points determined by . Cutting points involve placing the data on a continuum using the divisions Balanced and Mid-Range.  and others (Russel/ 1979) have suggested that families scoring in the balanced range tend to function at a, higher level. That is they tend to handle stress and developmental change with less difficulty than those families in the Mid-Range.
By way of explanation/ scores for each group/ by scale/ are presented in Table 2. The norms and cutting points are those established by  for adolescents and families with adolescents/ based on perceived scores only. Data from this present study are plotted on those scales.
The table is to be interpreted as follows. According to the key/ pregnant adolescents perceived their current home environment as almost mid-way between structured and flexible on the adaptability scale; that is, in the balanced range. This same group preferred an ideal environment that would be even more flexible. It is necessary to point out that the norms and cutting points established by Olson (1985) have been determined only on perceived scores. Therefore plotting the ideal scores is done only for comparison and contrast.
Using their keyed symbols/ each group's perceived and ideal scores for each of the two scales may be given meaning.  (Olson, 1987& Russel, 1979. These studies suggest that high family functioning is associated with moderate family adaptability and cohesion. Not only has assessment of this functioning within families been studied, FACES III has been used to gauge the impact of various counseling interventions on the family structure. This study suggests that the differing perceptions of the home environment by female adolescents identify some important aspects of home life. For example, the way non-pregnant girls viewed their home environment (Adaptability Scale) was much like the pregnant girls wanted their home environment to be. Furthermore/ these pregnant girls wanted significantly more cohesiveness in their home environment than was thought to be present in the home of the non-pregnant girls.
Knowing possible dissatisfaction by girls with the way things are and the way they would like them to be, could enable those in the helping professions to intervene, hopefully in preventative ways.
As suggested by Olson (1987), the need for additional study of Deaf Participant: Thank you Tor agreeing ro respond to this survey. This study is an attempt to m ore fully understand how adolescents view their home environment. Our desire is Lhut we ran use this in fornut ion to help other adolescents, and their families as they interact during this important time in life.
Each survey has been coded in an attempt to assure confidentiality. Please respond in an open and honest manner. There are instructions on the s u r v e y .
However, if you have any questions feel free to ask.
A copy of the results of this survey will be filed in the Counselor Education Office at UNO.
Thank you again for your participation.