Attitudes and Adolescent Nonmarital Childbearing

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Abstract
This study used logit models to provide new evidence on the relationship between adolescent nonmarital childbearing and self-esteem, locus of control, and attitudes towards women's family roles, school, and work The sample was drawn from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, a nationally representative data base containing information on attitudes obtained before nonmarital childbearing occurred. The evidence shows that higher self-esteem and more positive attitudes toward school have been associated with a lower probability of nonmarital childbearing. These are the effects predicted by theory. Locus of control was not systematically related to nonmarital childbearing. Attitudes towards work and towards family and gender roles were also unrelated to nonmarital childbearing. Educational expectations appeared to mediate a small part of the attitudinal effects. Controlling for those effects, higher educational expectations tended to reduce the probability of nonmarital childbearing, but their impact was not statistically significant.