Psychosocial Experiences of Pregnant Adolescent Girls: A Qualitative Phenomenological Study in a Rural District in Ghana.

Abstract

Adolescent pregnancies are associated with several psychosocial challenges. This study explored the psychosocial experiences of pregnant adolescents in a rural District in the Volta Region of Ghana. The participants were 16 pregnant adolescents purposively sampled from 3 communities. Individual in-depth interviews were used for data collection and analyzed using the thematic analysis method. An inductive approach was used to identify emerging central themes from the sub-themes by merging the codes delving deep into the contents and grouping similar statements. Six themes and 14 sub-themes were identified and included (1) meanings attached to the pregnancy/feelings at the first discovery of pregnancy, (2) reaction from parents, friends, neighbors, and sexual partner/boyfriend, (3) participation in social activities in the community, (4) source of support, (5) challenges during pregnancy, and (6) perception of the antecedents to the pregnancy. The factors associated with an adolescent girl getting pregnant were ignorance, promise of marriage, lack of awareness, lack of knowledge on contraceptive use, and nature of interpersonal relationships with friends. Adolescents' reaction to the news of pregnancy was a feeling of dislike and unpleasantness. The adolescent's immediate thoughts of the pregnancy were to terminate the pregnancy. The type of interpersonal relationship with adolescents' parents, friends, and neighbors was strained. The sexual partners were the major sources of financial and resource support. Healthcare providers must use targeted intervention to train, educate, and support adolescents and parents to address psychosocial concerns arising from pregnancies. Future studies should quantify the magnitude of the psychosocial burden of teenage pregnancy. This can lead to developing and testing interventions to prevent or mitigate the liability of teenage pregnancy in the district.