The study was conducted to determine the factors associated with repeat adolescent pregnancy (RAP) among mothers ages 20 to 25 years old in selected communities of Zamboanga City. An initial cross sectional design was employed to determine the prevalence of RAP. An unmatched case control design with 1:1 ratio was used, thereafter, to identify the factors associated with RAP among 20 to 25 years old mothers in selected communities of Zamboanga City. Case studies were done to describe the experiences of adolescents who were currently pregnant on their second or more pregnancies. The first phase of study was participated by a total of 250 mothers from the most populated district selected through purposive sampling. The second phase was participated by 280 respondents of whom 140 were case respondents or those mothers who had RAP and 140 control respondents or those mothers who had only one pregnancy during their adolescent period, recruited through purposive sampling. An interviewer-assisted questionnaire drafted from related studies was utilized during data collection. Further, 10 adolescents consented for in depth interviews as part of the case studies, selected through purposive sampling. Results showed that the prevalence rate of RAP is 44%. For the case control study, multivariate logistic regression analysis determined seven factors associated with RAP. Of the 5 factors, 2 are facilitative to RAP which include: first pregnancy at ≤ 16 years old (OR=9.608, p-value=0.000) as individual factor, father of first pregnancy wanted another child (OR=5.429, p-value=0.000) as dyad factor, while the other 3 factors are considered protective to RAP which include: accessibility to contraceptives (OR=0.371, p-value=0.006) as individual factor, living with parents after first pregnancy (OR=0.172, p-value=0.000) and returned to school after first pregnancy (OR=0.114, p-value=0.002) as social factors. The case studies described that the most common reasons cited by currently pregnant adolescents for having another pregnancy were encapsulated in three themes which include partner/husband as main decision-maker, both wanted another child and unplanned pregnancy. Other themes which summarizes the experiences of currently pregnant adolescents include cited childhood events which affected their lives, norms on repeat pregnancy in terms of family and peer reactions, positive aspects related to early motherhood, importance of family planning and the greater responsibilities in motherhood. These findings indicate that individual, dyad and social factors reveal strong association with RAP among mothers ages 20-25 years old in selected communities of Zamboanga City. It is, therefore, recommended to intensify contraceptive counselling and health education on family planning methods, male involvement in family planning and interventions that support and assist adolescents in parenting and personal development.

Keyword: Repeat adolescent pregnancy 20-25 years old mothers