Abstract

Introduction Few, if any, studies have systematically examined the relationship between substance use and teen pregnancy using population-based samples. We aim to provide a comprehensive examination of substance use among pregnant adolescents in the United States.

Method Employing data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health between 2002 and 2012 (n = 97,850), we examine the prevalence of the past 12-month and the past 30-day substance use and substance use disorders among pregnant and non-pregnant adolescents (ages 12–17). We also examine psychosocial and pregnancy-related correlates of current substance use among the subsample of pregnant adolescents (n = 810).

Results Pregnant teens were significantly more likely to have experimented with a variety of substances and meet criteria for alcohol (AOR = 1.65, 95% CI = 1.26–2.17), cannabis (AOR = 2.29, 95% CI = 1.72–3.04), and other illicit drug use disorders (AOR = 2.84, 95% CI = 1.92–4.19). Pregnant early adolescents (ages 12–14; AOR = 4.34, 95% CI = 2.28–8.26) were significantly more likely and pregnant late adolescents (ages 15–17; AOR = 0.71, 95% CI = 0.56–0.90) significantly less likely than their non-pregnant counterparts to be current substance users.