Teen Girls' Relationships With Older Men Studied

ALTHOUGH most young girls have partners close to their age, a report shows that a high number of teenagers become pregnant by adult men.

Contrary to popular beliefs about the widespread number of predatory older men, two-thirds of teenage girls have partners who are close to their age, and only 7 percent have partners six or more years older, according to a comprehensive nationwide study released today.

Still, researchers found that 70 percent of unmarried teen girls with older partners became pregnant - a rate nearly four times higher than for girls with partners who were no more than two years older.

"The good news for legislators and parents is that the problem of older guys with younger girls has been somewhat exaggerated. The bad news is that it's still a very real problem," said Bill Albert, spokesman for the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.

The report, published in the journal Family Planning Perspectives by the Allan Guttmacher Institute, brings new perspectives to the image of the older man as a villain, which some experts say is oversimplified. The study is the first to measure age differences in ongoing relationships, and not just at the time of first sex or in relationships that end up in pregnancy.

Although the researchers were reluctant to discuss the policy implications of their study, some pregnancy-prevention groups said the message to parents is clear: "They really need to take a stand against (their daughters) dating older guys," Albert said.

Although sexual relationships between young girls and older men have historically been censured, public concern over the issue escalated when studies in 1995 showed that at least half of all babies of teenage mothers were fathered by adult men. Almost immediately, policymakers across the nation set out to enforce statutory-rape laws, hoping to prevent teenage pregnancy by putting away predatory older men.

The study analyzed three different data sources for the period of 1994-1995: a national survey of 10,847 women and girls; a Guttmacher Institute abortion survey covering 9,985; and national natality data on more than 5 million pregnancies in 1994.

With a broader picture of relationship dynamics, the authors were able to explore how age differences relate to several variables: use of contraception, pregnancy and abortion rates, and whether a pregnancy was desired, for example.

"Until now we had no idea of what the pattern of male involvement in abortion or contraceptive use was," said David Landry of the Guttmacher Institute, and an author of the study.

Although the report does not specifically address male behavior, it showed that girls with partners six or more years older were less likely than those with partners close to their age to have had an abortion, to say that their pregnancy was unintended, and to have used contraception at last intercourse.

The Guttmacher findings may open the door to a better understanding of the multifaceted issue of teenage pregnancy.

Experts said it remains critical to determine why the rate of pregnancy remains so high when there is a vast age gap in relationships.

Albert of the Teen Pregnancy Campaign and others said the focus of study needs to move beyond the female.

"We need to involve boys and men in these issues," he said.