Volume 224 - Issue 1

Adolescent Pregnancy: Association with Exposure to Social Protective Services

Authors:  Oliver Watkeys, Kimberlie Dean, Kristin R. Laurens, Stacy Tzoumakis, Vaughan J. Carr, Melissa J. Green

Correspondence: melissa.green@unsw.edu.au

Med J Aust 2026 || doi: 10.5694/mja2.70130
Published online: 18 January 2026

Abstract

In a population cohort of 44,216 adolescent girls, about 73.5% of those who became pregnant were known to child protection services. Exposure to higher levels of child protection response was associated with increased cumulative incidence and an earlier age of pregnancy.