73.FullSocioeconomic characteristics of fathers of children born to teenage mothers in Stockholm, Sweden

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DOI: 10.1080/14034940210134176

2003 31: 73Scand J Public HealthCecilia Ekus and Kyllike Christensson

Socioeconomic characteristics of fathers of children born to teenage mothers in Stockholm, Sweden

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DOI: 10.1080/14034940210134176

SHORT COMMUNICATION

Socioeconomic characteristics of fathers of childrenborn to teenage mothers in Stockholm, Sweden

Cecilia Ekeus1

and Kyllike Christensson1,2

1Department of Public Health Sciences, Division of International Health (IHCAR), Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden,

2Department of Women and Child Health, Division of Reproductive and Perinatal Care, Karolinska Institutet

Scand J Public Health 2003; 31: 7376

Aims: Teenage childbearing has been associated with adverse outcomes for the mother and the child. Despite this, no studyin Sweden has focused on the fathers of those children. The aim of the present study was to describe and compare thesocioeconomic situation of fathers of children born to teenage mothers with those of children born to average-aged mothers.Methods: A descriptive comparative study was conducted, which comprised 132 fathers of children born to teenage mothers(Group A) and the same number of fathers of children born to older mothers (Group B). All fathers answered a structuredquestionnaire regarding socioeconomic and reproductive factors. Results: On certain critical variables the Group A fathers

were more likely to have had a more compromised and diffi

cult socioeconomic background. Compared with the Group Bfathers they were more likely to have tried illicit drugs and to be involved in criminality. In addition, the Group A fathersoften came from single-parent households. Conclusion: Many fathers of children born to teenage mothers showed problembehaviours, which may negatively influence their ability to engage in successful parenting. Therefore increased attentionshould be paid to the fathers at an early stage of pregnancy, during the antenatal visits.

Key words: adolescent, adolescent parenting, adolescent pregnancy, fatherhood, teenage pregnancy.

Cecilia Ekeus, Department of Public Health Sciences, Division of International Health (IHCAR), Karolinska Institutet,SE-171 76 Stockholm, Sweden. Tel: +46-8-51776478, fax:+46-8-31 15 90, e-mail: [email protected]

BACKGROUND 1997 to April 1998. Approximately 300 teenage birthsoccurred in Stockholm during the study period,

In Sweden, each year approximately 1700, equal to 2%

although only 180200 of the fathers were present onof all children, are born to teenage mothers. Teenage the postnatal wards. The Karolinska Institutetschildbearing is associated with adverse pregnancy out-

Ethical Committee approved the study.comes and negative social consequences for both

To be included in the study, the fathers had to bemother and child [1, 2]. Despite this, no study has present at or visiting the postnatal ward after the birth offocused on the fathers of those children. their child and also be able to read and write Swedish.

In general, fathers provide both the mother and the Of the 182 Group A fathers who were available for thechild with important social support, and therefore have study, 30 could not read and write Swedish. A further 20a positive impact on their health [3, 4]. International Group A fathers refused to participate or did not returnresearch indicates, however, that fathers of children the questionnaire. Thus the Study Group (Group A)born to teenage mothers differ in many ways from included 132 fathers of children born to teenage mothers.fathers of children with older women [5, 6]. In order to compare the study group with fathers of

Thus, the aim of the present study was to explore children born to age-normal primiparous women infactors that surround teenage parenthood, and to

Sweden, an equal number of fathers of children born todescribe and compare the socioeconomic situation of primiparous women in the age group 2529 years werefathers of children born to teenage mothers with that recruited in Group B. The response rate in both groupsof fathers of children to primiparous mothers aged was about 90%, which meant that the fathers who fulfilledbetween 25 and 29 years. The fathers in both groups the criteria for being included and who received thewere present on the postnatal wards. questionnaires were positive about participation.

METHODS Data collection

Data were collected from a total of 11 postnatal wards Data were collected through a self-administeredstructured questionnaire, handed out to the fathers byat the five maternity hospitals in Stockholm from May

Scand J Public Health 31 Taylor & Francis 2003. ISSN 0301-7311

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74 C Ekeus and K Christensson

midwives during their visit to the postnatal ward. The Family background (Table I)

midwives gave each father in Group A visiting theA higher proportion of the Group A fathers (42%)

ward a questionnaire, and then another to the nextcompared with the Group B fathers (29%) had

father who arrived and fulfilled the criteria for Groupdivorced parents. Additionally, approximately one out

B. Thus, there was one Group B father per Group Aof four fathers with divorced parents in Group A and

father, and consequently an equal proportion of fathers14% in Group B reported no contact with their own

from each postnatal ward. Not all fathers respondedfather during childhood. There were more fathers in

to all questions, but the frequency of missing data was

Group A (11%) compared with Group B (4%) whosegenerally low. The questionnaire, which included 88 parents had never lived together. About 50% of thequestions, covered information regarding the past

Group A fathers and 10% of the Group B fathers hadand present socioeconomic situation, use of alcohol,

an immigrant background. In Group A, almost 35%tobacco, and narcotics along with criminality. The

were born abroad, and 17% had parents who hadfathers were also asked about their reproductive life-

immigrated to Sweden.style and their attitudes towards fatherhood and about

the relationship with the mother of the child. However,Illicit drugs and criminality (Table II)in this report only the first part of the dataset will be

presented. In Group A, 43% of fathers reported having used illicit

drugs at some time, and 16% several times. Among the

Group B fathers, 23% stated they had used narcotics

occasionally and 5% several times. Additionally, theStatistical methods

group A fathers had used heavy narcotics more fre-Descriptive statistics such as frequencies, calculationquently, such as amphetamine, cocaine and heroin,

of means, and prevalence ratio between Group A andcompared with the Group B fathers. A high proportion

Group B with 95% confidence limits were calculated.of Group A fathers (44%) had been prosecuted in

court, on average three times. In Group B, 19% had

been prosecuted in court and on average once. TheRESULTS Group A fathers had committed more violent and

narcotic-related crimes compared with the Group BSocioeconomic background (Table I)where crimes related to traffic and drunk driving dom-

The mean age of the fathers in Group A was 23 years, inated. Approximately 11% of the entire Group Aranging between 15 and 47 years, compared with a fathers had been incarcerated. The correspondingmean age of 29 years and a range of 2240 years in figure for the Group B fathers was 2%. The Group AGroup B. Among Group A, 19% of the fathers were

fathers who were involved in criminality diff

ered fromteenagers themselves and 10% of these fathers were both non-criminal Group A fathers and criminalmore than 10 years older than the teenage mothers. Group B fathers in various aspects. They more oftenThe fathers in Group A were on average five years came from homes where the parents were divorced orolder than their partners compared with two years had never lived together, they were more often born indifference in Group B. The educational level was lower Sweden, and they had used narcotics more frequently.in Group A than in Group B: 40% of the Group A In addition, 12 out of 58 (21%) Group A fathers withfathers had completed only nine years compulsory a criminal background already had a child withschooling as the highest educational level, compared another woman.with 11% of the fathers in Group B. The differences

could not be explained by the age differences in theDISCUSSION

two groups. Four out of five fathers of children born

to teenage mothers were over 19 years of age, and The results of this study relate to a selective sample of

fathers from the greater Stockholm area, namely thoseshould therefore have had more time than necessaryto complete compulsory as well as secondary school. who were present on the postnatal wards and were able

to read and write in Swedish. These attending fathersIn Sweden compulsory schooling lasts nine years and

the age at graduation is normally 15. The Group A may, in comparison with the non-attending fathers,

constitute a selected and probably more advantagedfathers were to a greater degree unemployed or on sick

leave at the time of data collection. In addition, 69% group, with a better socioeconomic situation.

Nevertheless, the majority of the Group A fathersof the fathers in Group A and 39% in Group B reported

having been unemployed at some time. In total, 50% had, in comparison with the Group B fathers, a disad-

vantaged socioeconomic situation, which was seen inof the Group A fathers were smokers compared with

15% of the fathers in the Group B. a low educational level, high smoking prevalence,

Scand J Public Health 31



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Fathers of children born to teenage mothers 75

Table I. Socioeconomic factors and family background

Group A=132 Group B=132Prevalence

n % n % ratio 95% CI

Education levelCompulsory nine-year 53 40 15 11 3.5 2.1 5.9not completed 8 6 1 1 8.1 1.0 64Secondary practical 49 37 48 36 1.0

theoretical 16 12 40 30 0.4 0.2 0.7University 3 2 27 20 0.1 0.03 0.3Other 3 2 1 1 3.0 0.3 28

OccupationStudent 23 17 4 3 5.8 2.1 16.2Employed 79 60 122 92 0.6 0.5 0.7Unemployed/sick leave 20 15 3 2 6.7 1.2 36Other 10 8 3 2 3.4 1.0 11.7

Ever unemployed 86 69 51 39 1.8 1.4 2.2

Smoker 66 50 20 15 3.4 2.2 5.3

Fathers parents marital statusCohabiting 57 43 86 65 0.7 0.6 0.9

Divorced 56 42 38 29 1.5 1.1 2.1Never lived together 14 11 5 4 2.9 1.1 7.8Missing 5 4 3 2 1.7 0.4 7.0

EthnicityBorn in Sweden 86 65 120 91 0.7 0.6 0.8Born outside Sweden 46 35 12 9 3.9 1.9 7.8

Major languageSwedish 87 66 120 90 0.7 0.6 0.8Swedish and a foreign language* 20 15 4 3 5.0 1.8 14Foreign language* 25 18 8 6 3.1 1.6 6.6

*Also understands and speaks Swedish

frequent use of illicit drugs and involvement in crimin- single-parent homes and lacked contact with their own

fathers. Several studies have shown the importance ofality. During the 1990s increased use of illicit drugs

a father being present for the physical, social, andwas observed among youths in Sweden. In 2000, 19%

cognitive development of the child [3, 9]. Behaviouralof males in the age group 1534 reported a lifetime

problems seem to be more common among boys whoprevalence of use of illicit drugs [ 7]. In the present

have little or no contact with their own fathers, or whostudy, the prevalence was doubled among the Groupdo not have a male role model [10]. In our studyA fathers, who also used much heavier narcotics.this was apparent because as many as 67% of theThese results could be discussed in relation to the situ-fathers with a criminal record came from one-parentation of teenage mothers who have been reported tohouseholds.run an increased risk of premature death [8 ]. Even

after adjustment for socioeconomic status, teenage

mothers ran a tenfold increase in risk of death due to CONCLUSION

inflicted violence, and a doubled risk of dying fromMany fathers of children born to teenage mothers

suicide. Possible explanations suggested were a health- showed problem behaviours, which may negativelydamaging lifestyle, poor psychosocial health, and a

influence their ability to engage in successful parent-violent environment. From our results we can assume

ing. Increased attention should therefore be paid tothat some teenage mothers live in a violent environ-

the fathers at an early stage of pregnancy, duringment. One could question whether there is a correlation

antenatal visits.between the increased risk of premature death among

the mothers and the fathers criminality, and/or socio-ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

economic situation in general. Further studies are

needed to clarify whether such a correlation exists. The authors wish to express their thanks to Prof

Lars Alfredsson and PhD Anders Sjoberg for theirMore Group A than Group B fathers came from




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76 C Ekeus and K Christensson

Table II. Use of illicit drugs and criminality

Group A=132 Group B=132Prevalence

n % n % ratio 95% CI

Ever tried narcotics 57 43 30 23 1.9 1.3 2.7Several times 21 16 7 5 3.0 1.3 6.8

Type of narcotic

Marihuana 44 33 17 13 2.6 1.6 4.3Hashish 51 39 24 18 2.1 1.4 3.2Ecstasy 17 13 2 2 8.4 2 35Sedative 26 20 1 1 25.8 3.6186Cocaine 20 15 7 5 2.9 1.3 6.6Amphetamine 33 25 6 5 5.6 2.412.8Heroine 7 5 Other 14 11 2 2 7.0 1.630.2

Prosecuted in court 58 44 25 19 2.3 1.5 3.4

SanctionIncarcerated 14 11 2 2 7.0 1.630Fined 41 31 18 14 2.3 1.4 3.8Probation 11 9 7 7 1.6 0.8 4.6Other 8 6 3 3 2.7 0.7 9.9

Acquitted 2 2 1 1

Number of timesOnce 27 20 17 13 1.7 1.0 3.0Twice 9 7 4 3 2.3 0.7 7.3More than twice 17 13 2 2 8.5 2.036Missing 5 4 2 2

Type of crimeViolent deed 24 19 5 4 4.9 1.912.4Drug related 3 2 1 1 3.1 0.329Traffic related 7 5 12 9 0.6 0.2 1.5Theft 13 10 5 4 2.6 0.9 7.1Other 23 17 8 6 2.9 1.3 6.2

participation in child rearing: family perspectives.epidemiological and statistical advice. This studyJ Adolesc Health 1997; 21: 24452.was supported by grants from the National Institute

6. Hardy J, Duggan A, Masnyk K, Peason C. Fathers toof Public Health and the Board of Research for Health children born to young urban mothers. Fam Plannand Caring Sciences. Perspect 1989; 21: 15963.

7. National reports Sweden 2000. F-serie 11: 2000, Part II:Epidemiological situation; Prevalence, Patterns andREFERENCESDevelopments in Drug Use: 1420 National Institute ofPublic Health.

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2. Roye C, Balk S. The relationship of partner support to 9. Hevesi Sander J, Rosen J. Teenage fathers working withoutcomes for teenage mothers and their children: a the neglected partner in adolescent childbearing. Famreview. J Adolesc Health 1996; 19: 8693. Plann Perspect 1987; 19: 10710.

3. Cox J, Bithoney W. Fathers of children born to adoles- 10. Elster A, Lamb M, Tavare J. Association betweencent mothers. Predictors of contact with their children at behavioral and school problems and fatherhood in a2 years. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 1995; 149: 9626. national sample of adolescent youths. J Pediatr 1987;

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73.FullSocioeconomic characteristics of fathers of children born to teenage mothers in Stockholm, Sweden