Teen mothers and school dropout: a systematized review

Abstract

Objective: to make a systematized review of published articles in the last five years about the theme motherhood in adolescence and school dropout factors. Methodology: It was used a systematized review of articles in English, Portuguese and Spanish in BVS, SciELO, MEDLINE, LILACS and PubMed database, from January, 2004 to January, 2009, using all together the descriptors adolescence pregnancy, and school dropout and not sexual education. Fifteen articles were found, five articles from Brazil; three from Africa; one from China; one from Argentina; one from Chile; and four from the United States of America. Results: the articles have evidenced that low socioeconomical level is a harmful factor to the school performance, sexual and reproductive behavior of teenagers; besides early pregnancy, other factors as poverty, parents low schooling and value education perception are determinants of school dropout. Final considerations: the findings of this review point ways which deserve to be deepened, such as public policies and health programs directed toward teens. Thus, it is suggested to carry out new studies on this thematic. Descriptors: adolescence pregnancy; student dropout; sexual education.