Adolescents' perceptions of the impact of pregnancy on their social relationships

10.15343/0104-7809.202145564572

Abstract

Most pregnant teenagers, even wanting their pregnancy and being insured by public policies, face difficulties in their relationships with their family and partner, tending to suffer from the disruption of their lives. Thus, this work aims to understand the perceptions of primiparous teenagers about the impact of pregnancy on their social relationships. This is a qualitative study based on the theoretical framework of Morin's Complex Thinking. The study was carried out with 17 primiparous adolescents followed up at the Adolescent Prenatal Outpatient Clinic of the School Health Center in Santo André, State of São Paulo, Brazil. Data were collected through the Interview Technique and processed through Content Analysis. As a result, three categories were obtained - the partner's reaction to the pregnancy, the family's understanding of pregnancy, and the change in their social network after pregnancy. Many teenagers relate pregnancy to the idealization of becoming an adult and respected for the fact of becoming a mother. Partners do not always have this dream of being a father and keeping a family. The family, on the other hand, remains the first choice in the support of teenage couples, but some pregnant women did not demonstrate enough freedom to dialogue with their family members. It is noticed that teenage pregnancy generates social changes, especially with regards to school dropouts and social withdrawal. Thus, it is noted that teenage pregnancy generates difficult biopsychosocial transformations, such as dropping out of school and moving away from their social circle, demonstrating a suffering on the part of the teenagers.