Relationship between Parent and Peer Attachment with Coping Strategy among Teenagers Pregnancy

• Main Authors: Salhah, Abdullah,, Saedah A, Ghani,, Sapora, Sipon,, Sharifah Merriam S, Akil,, Noradila Mohamed, Faudzi,
• Format: Conference Paper
• Language: en_US
• Published: ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV 2015
• Subjects: teenage pregnant girls; parent and peer attachment; guilt and shame; coping strategy
• Online Access: http://ddms.usim.edu.my/handle/123456789/8976

Teen mums on the rise with teenagers becoming more sexually active, over 18,000 cases of girls under 19 were recorded in 2011. The aim of this study addresses the issue of teenager's parent attachment versus peer attachment and coping strategy. This study uses a questionnaire for Teenage Pregnancy Profile which contains of three psychological measurements: (1) Parent and Peer Attachment Inventory and (2) Coping Strategy Inventory, and (3) Guilt and Shame Proneness Scale. This study is to identify relationship of parent and peers attachment, feeling of guilt and shame with coping strategy of pregnant teenagers. Respondents in this study consist of 75 pregnant girls (age between 12 and 18), who live in four rehabilitation centers. Majority (27 respondents, 75%) of them declared that they have first time sexual experience and became pregnant at the age of 12 to 15 years old. Results show Pearson's correlation between parent and peer attachment, and coping strategies of the respondents. Significantly weak positive Pearson's correlation (r=.32) show between parent attachment with peer attachment follow by peer attachment with social focus coping strategy (r=.30). The result of inter-correlation between sub-scales of Guilt and Shame Proneness Scale shown significantly positive moderate correlation in range of (r=.42 to r=.57). The implication of this study reflects the need of prevention and also rehabilitation program to high risk group teenagers. Teenagers need to develop positive values toward self-respect and self-esteem as well as coping strategy through assertive training. This study addresses the limitation of data collection from rehabilitation centres under the provision of Social Welfare Department. Future study should also include qualitative approach to have in-depth understanding of how teenage pregnant girls develop positive coping strategies in the process of recovering. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.