Sons of young dads more likely to become fathers in adolescence

Washington, Jan 17 (ANI): Males who are born to adolescent fathers are more likely than males born to older fathers to perpetuate the trend by also becoming fathers while in their adolescence. A new study has found.

For the study, researchers examined whether paternal adolescent fatherhood predicted participant adolescent fatherhood.

The sample included 1,496 adolescent males 19 years or younger interviewed annually from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997.

They found that sons of adolescent fathers were 1.8 times more likely to become adolescent fathers than were sons of older fathers, after other risk factors were accounted for.

"The results of this study indicate an intergenerational cycle of adolescent fatherhood above and beyond the influence of having an adolescent mother and other traditional risk factors for adolescent pregnancy," the study's authors said.

"These findings support the need for pregnancy prevention interventions specifically designed for and targeted at young males who may be at high risk for continuing this cycle," they added.

The study has been published in the American Journal of Public Health. (ANI)