Impact of individual and environmental factors on academic performance of pregnant adolescent

BACKGROUND: Teenage pregnancies continue to disrupt teenage girls’ academic development. As a result, teenage mothers are at risk of unemployment, maternal death, and poverty. Previous research, however, has shown that both individual and environmental factors can have a significant impact on the prevalence of adolescent pregnancy. However, there has been little rigorous research on the impact of these factors on pregnant students’ academic performance. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between environmental (neighbourhood) and individuals (sexual attitudes, peer attachment) factors. It also examined the influence of individual factors on the academic performance of pregnant teens. METHODS: The study included a cross-sectional study of 400 pregnant adolescent students aged 15–19 years. The target groups were drawn from three major cities in Nigeria. Respondents were identified through targeted snowballing. Pregnant participants were a combination of married and unmarried girls attending school from home. Data were collected using a structured and self-completed questionnaire. Thus, frequency, mean and standard deviation were used for descriptive analysis. Pearson correlation analysis was applied to show the relationship between variables. RESULTS: The study found that neighbourhood (r=-.125, p = .12) had a negative and significant relationship with peer attachment. However, there was no significant evidence of a relationship between sexual attitudes and neighbourhood (r=-.040, p = .422). There was, however, a significant relationship between sexual attitudes and academic performance (r = .236, p = .000). There was also a relationship between peer attachment and academic performance (r=-.401, p = < 0.001). CONCLUSION: This study suggests that the academic performance of pregnant teenagers necessitates a combination of approaches, which includes changes in personal and prosocial behaviour, and environmental reforms. This can be achieved through, peer education, school day-care, subsidised or free contraceptives, free or subsidized education, and community programmes that positively influence young adults in the neighbourhood. These approaches can indirectly boost self-efficacy, motivation, and confidence to achieve higher academic feat, while reducing school dropout rate among the target groups.