Abstract:
Recent research has established that teenagers have the means to prevent
pregnancy but many do not necessarily use them, because they are open to
the idea of becoming pregnant, or have a desire to parent their own child. The
aim of this study was to investigate whether there is a relationship between
attachment and teenagers’ desire of becoming pregnant and parenting a
child. The sample of the study, selected through convenience sampling,
comprised 455, 14 and 15 year old registered female learners from selected
urban and rural high schools in Mopani District, Limpopo Province. Findings
from structural equation modeling indicate that both mother and father
attachment do not influence teenagers’ idealization about pregnancy and
parenting. Mother trust had a statistically significant relationship with attitudes
towards pregnancy. Trust for both mother and father also had a significant
relationship with parental readiness. Alienation to mother had a significant
association with teenagers preparedness to become parents. Socio-economic
status was found to be associated with teenagers’ idealization of pregnancy
and their report of being physically and emotionally ready to become parents.
This study has found a relationship between the Trust and Alienation
dimensions of attachment with attitudes towards pregnancy and parental
readiness.
Key words: Attachment; socio-economic status; pregnancy; idealization;
parental readiness
