European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL BEING AMONG PREGNANT TEENAGERS ATTENDING BPKIHS

Samiksha Sharma*, Sami Lama, Nirmala Pradhan, Kriti Thapa, Mangala Shrestha and Dr. Madhur Basnet

ABSTRACT

Background: The incidence of teenage pregnancy is on rise recently. With adolescent period already being a period of transition and identity confusion, added responsibility of motherhood might be overwhelming to the teen and thus affect the psychological wellbeing of the teenagers. Objectives: The objectives of the study were to find out the psychological well being of pregnant teens attending BPKIHS and to find out the association between selected socio-demographic variables and psychological well being of the respondents. Materials and methods: A hospital based mixed method study was conducted among 88 pregnant teenagers visiting BPKIHS OPD. Data collection was done using pretested questionnaire and interview guide for socio-demographic characteristics and interview while Psychological General Well Being Index (PGWBI) was used to assess the psychological wellbeing. MS Excel and SPSS were used to analyze quantitative data whereas interview was recorded, translated, major themes identified, and transcribed to analyze qualitative data. Results: The mean score for psychological wellbeing was 63.72 with a standard deviation of 12.764 indicating that majority (80.7%) of the respondents were in some form of distress. Qualitative analysis found that the support received by the respondents from family and spouse were low as compared to their expectations. Conclusion: Majority of the pregnant teenagers were in psychological distress. Excerpts from the respondents suggest that early marriage itself might be a cause for early pregnancy. Qualitative analysis concluded that being pregnant at an early age corresponds to lack of self esteem in terms of career and education and also issues with fulfillment of basic needs like foods and clothes as per their wish.

Keywords: Pregnant teenagers, Psychological well being, Distress, Nepal.