This study examined the teenage pregnancy and psychological well-being of secondary school girls in Ado Local Government Area in Ekiti State, Nigeria. Specifically, the study examined the occurrence of teenage pregnancy, the level of psychological well-being of teenage girls, the relationship between teenage pregnancy and psychological well-being of teenage girls. The descriptive research design was adopted for this study. The population for the study comprised of residents of Ado Local government and a total of 300 residents was selected using simple random sampling technique. A questionnaire titled “Teenage Pregnancy and Psychological Well-Being Questionnaire (TPPWQ)” was the instrument used to collect of data for the study. The instrument was validated by various experts using the face and content validity. For the reliability of the instrument, test-retest method was employed which yield a reliability coefficient of 0.80. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings revealed that teenage pregnancy is a widespread & increasing problem and there is a moderate psychological well-being among teenage girls. Findings also revealed significant negative relationship between teenage pregnancy and self-esteem (r = -0.547, p < 0.05), significant relationship between teenage pregnancy and depression (r = 0.623, p < 0.05) and significant relationship between teenage pregnancy and social isolation (r = 0.489, p < 0.05) among secondary school girls. Based on the findings, the study recommended the establishing of mandatory comprehensive sex education programs in all secondary schools, implementation of school-based mental health support services to address the impact of teenage pregnancy on self-esteem, social isolation and depression.
Keywords: Ekiti State, Nigeria, Psychological well-being, secondary school girls, teenage pregnancy
