Early pregnancies among middle school students: Attribution of blame and the feelings of responsibility among teachers and parents

Abstract

Introduction: Globally, 15% of adolescents give birth before turning 18, leading to considerable personal, social, and medical impacts on adolescents and to the general society. Objective: This study aimed at exploring and comparing three psychological attributes (i.e., empathetic concern, feelings of responsibility, and attribution of blame) between parents and teachers for the phenomena. Method: 672 teachers (54% females) and 690 parents (53% female) participated in the study. Results: The results indicated a significant mean difference between parents and teachers on empathy (t = 5.735, p < 0.001), attribution of blame (t = 6.902, p < 0.001), and feelings of responsibility (t = 1.727, p < 0.001). Except for attribution of blame, parents’ mean scores of other variables were higher than that of teachers. Discussion: Teachers’ higher attribution of blame to pregnant adolescents and lower empathetic concern raises a prominent concern over students’ healthy environment at school. Conclusion: Understanding social feelings about responsibilities over adolescents’ general health is very essential, especially for fighting against the problem of early pregnancy.