by Jacqueline L. Stock, Michelle A. Bell, Debra K. Boyer, and Frederick A. Connell

About the authors: Jacqueline L. Stock is a research study manager at the Battelle Centers for Public Health Research and Evaluation in Seattle, Washington. Michelle A. Bell is associate professor at the University of Washington, Seattle. Debra K. Boyer is affiliate assistant professor of the Women’s Studies Program at the University of Washington, Seattle. Frederick A. Connell is director and professor of maternal and child health services at the School of Public Health and Community Medicine at the University of Washington, Seattle.

As sexual abuse of female children and adolescent pregnancy have gained increasingly widespread public recognition as problems in our society, the relationship between early abuse and teenage pregnancy also has become a focus of attention. However, differences...