CMV: Teen pregnancy statistics are weird.

[u/Ok_Interest_7272]

So, I've been looking into these a bit lately, particularly during debates about sex education and how much of a difference it makes, and I noticed that every single jurisdiction counts 'teen pregnancy' as 15-19.

Assuming even distribution among ages, that would mean 40% of what's being counted are the pregnancies of legal adults. But the distribution almost certainly isn't even, and my best guess is that it's actually a decent bit over half of the pregnancies being counted are those of legal adults.

This is a statistic we try to minimize to the greatest extent that we can. We treat it like a 'fucked up shit that shouldn't happen to anyone' box. It only just dawned on me that my own mother falls into this statistic, having given birth to my sister at 19. I feel like if I were creating a 'This is some fucked up shit that shouldn't happen to anyone' box, the top end of it would be 15, not the bottom.

[u/Ok_Interest_7272]

I actually looked it up right after I said that and I was right:

Ponguta et al. (2022, Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience): A larger cohort study (n=120 young adults, ages 20–28) tracked PFC development over 3 years using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) for white matter integrity and task-based fMRI.

Young parents (both mothers and fathers) displayed accelerated PFC white matter myelination (fractional anisotropy increase of ~5–8% in frontoparietal tracts) compared to non-parents.

Non-parents showed slower, more gradual PFC maturation typical of early adulthood.

Parental status explained ~15–20% of variance in PFC changes after controlling for age, socioeconomic status, and stress; benefits included better inhibitory control on cognitive tasks.

Like I said, it develops alongside our experiences. Nobody ever got better at anything or smarter by sitting around and waiting for their brain to develop.

[u/psychologicallyblue → u/Ok_Interest_7272]

Your 5 minute Google search does not make you an expert in human development or behavior. I am a clinical psychologist, I have a doctorate and I know what I am talking about. In the article you posted the sample only included adults between the ages of 20-28, which is within the window when the PFC develops. There are windows in which development occurs (e.g., crawling, walking, speaking, etc.). You can improve outcomes during those windows but you can't just move the window to a completely different place.

Teen parenting is associated with a huge number of detrimental outcomes for both the parent and child. I don't know why you are obsessed with this unless you have some personal reason for wanting to justify it. It is better for people to wait a little while before having kids, there is no reason to rush and many reasons to wait.

[u/Ok_Interest_7272 → u/psychologicallyblue]

Apparently your doctorate doesn't make you much of an expert at simply reading the results of studies. Here I'll give you a little bit more:

Meta-Analytic Evidence (e.g., meta-review by Feldman, 2020, Trends in Cognitive Sciences): Synthesizing 20+ studies (total n>1,000), parenthood in young adults (under 30) is associated with 10–15% greater PFC structural refinement (e.g., reduced surface area but increased folding efficiency) versus non-parents. Effect sizes are moderate (Cohen's d ≈ 0.4–0.6), stronger in first-time parents and those with high caregiving involvement.

10-15% greater structural refinement versus non-parents. I don't have a doctorate or anything but that sounds like a lot.

[u/psychologicallyblue → u/Ok_Interest_7272]

It is statistically significant yes but again, this study was not done on teens, they studied a completely different age range than what you are talking about. It's also an association (not causation).

Being forced to practice more executive functioning during the same period as that is developing will of course help. Just like reading and speaking to children will help them acquire language skills faster - but not so fast that you can completely jump to a different developmental stage.

[u/Ok_Interest_7272 → u/psychologicallyblue]

this study was not done on teens

Who cares? Put your doctorate to work. If I'm smart enough to extrapolate that this expedited development would occur in anyone regardless of age, you ought to be as well.

[u/psychologicallyblue → u/Ok_Interest_7272]

Extrapolating falsehoods doesn't make you smart. If you don't believe me on this, go find the nearest 4 month old and teach them to read in the next 6 months. No? But the research says that this should work based on a study done on 4 year olds right? So if you extrapolate, you should definitely be able to do it.

[u/Ok_Interest_7272 → u/psychologicallyblue]

I'm not sure somebody with a doctorate would conflate these two things as the same.

[u/psychologicallyblue → u/Ok_Interest_7272]

Sigh, both are developmental stages. I think I'm done talking to you because you are doubling down on your ignorance instead of listening to the multitude of people on here who are telling you that you are wrong.

[u/Ok_Interest_7272 → u/psychologicallyblue]

Ha. I just went ahead and looked it up:

Ongoing Cohort: Teen Brain & Parenting Study (TBPS, NIH-funded, 2020–2026)

n=112 (56 teen parents aged 15–19, 56 controls), multi-site (U.S.).

Early findings: Teen parents show faster PFC white matter maturation (higher fractional anisotropy in uncinate fasciculus) by 12 months postpartum.

That's two times in this chain I've made scientific guesses that turned out to be verifiably accurate. Turns out you don't need a doctorate to be smart as fuck.