Executive functioning in pregnant adolescents in the department of sucre-Colombia: A response from cognition

Abstract

Introduction. Teen pregnancy changes the way of life of girls and their families, sometimes they can be the product of poor decision-making when having sex. Objective: To describe the executive functioning of adolescents in a state of pregnancy in the department of Sucre. Method: Quantitative, observational, descriptive level and cross-sectional approach; a sample of 72 adolescents, 36 of them pregnant in the department of Sucre, Colombia. Sample: selection and rejection method, applying a simple analysis of variance, using the R-Studio program. Instruments: a test protocol was applied containing: Controlled word association test, Wisconsin classification test (WCST), Stroop test, Trail Making Test (TMT). Results: Adolescent girls in pregnancy presented greater difficulty in making decisions, failures in problem solving, organization and planning of information, as well as poor self-monitoring, slow learning and low speed of information processing. Conclusion: The maturation of brain areas with changes occurred in adolescence is consistent with the difficulties found in this executive functioning and the appearance of risk behaviors resulting in possible pregnancies during adolescence.