Abstract
The objective of this study was to identify patterns of coping strategies of pregnant teenagers in response to stressful life events and changes in those patterns and to examine the emphasis of nursing care for those teenagers. Ten pregnant teens ages 17-18 who were giving birth for the first time consented to the study; they were asked to draw a "life line" of difficult events prior to giving birth and participated in a semi-structured interview. Qualitative analysis of the data obtained identified 5 stressful life events like "fears of pregnancy brought about by a missed period" and "a pregnancy reported to one's mother" and 13 patterns of coping strategies like "pressuring one's partner." In addition, pregnant teenagers changed as the patterns of coping strategies they adopted in response to each stressful event went, for example, from negative strategies such as "rejecting the pregnancy" to positive strategies such as "dealing with the pregnancy" or from the rift-inducing decision of "not reporting a pregnancy to one's mother" to "seeking to strengthen one's relationship with one's mother." Attachment to the unborn child, splitting from an unreliable partner, and repairing one's relationship with one's mother were identified as turning points for these changes.
