98 JPAIR Multidisciplinary Research ABSTRACT In the local state college in Negros Occidental, Philippines, data from the Guidance Office confirmed an increased cases in adolescent pregnancy in the last three years. With the use of the phenomenological approach utilizing in-depth interview, this study looked into the circumstances in the lives of the pregnant adolescent students which led to their early pregnancy. These pregnant adolescents were enrolled during the 2nd semester of the academic year 2015-2016 in the State College in Negros Occidental. Purposive sampling was employed to identify the participants of this research. Exploring the participants’ narratives, common patterns or themes were observed. Circumstances which have led to their pregnancy are divided into 2 broad themes. Inherent Factors which are in their search for love, some life-changing decisions and their lack of awareness about sex. Adventitious Factors, on the other hand, are the family’s social interaction and being deceived by her partner. The results were used as a basis for formulating an intervention program for the pregnant adolescents, which was intended to develop some of their necessary life skills and also implement a massive campaign regarding adolescent sexuality as identified in this research. Keywords — Social Science, teenage pregnancy, phenomenological approach, Negros, Philippines Drivers to Adolescent Pregnancy DYAN T. GAPULAN dyangap@gmail.com Carlos Hilado Memorial State College Binalbagan, Negros Occidental Vol. 27 · January 2017 Print ISSN 2012-3981 • Online ISSN 2244-0445 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.7719/jpair.v27i1.460 Journal Impact: H Index = 2 from Publish or Perish JPAIR Multidisciplinary Research is produced by PAIR, an ISO 9001:2008 QMS certified by AJA Registrars, Inc. 99 International Peer Reviewed Journal INTRODUCTION Adolescence is a period of growth beginning with puberty and ending at the beginning of adulthood. Authorities consider this stage as a transition stage which persons must pass through before they become adults. Adolescence ends when the youth relinquish their typical student roles and enter into one or more adult roles (marriage, parenthood, and stable full-time work (Arnett, 2014). Adolescence, then, is not the assigned developmental stage for parenthood. However, adolescent pregnancy is a worldwide phenomenon which is currently gaining attention due to its global implications. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that the magnitude of teenage pregnancies from developing countries encompasses one-third of women who give birth before the age of 20 (Parungao, Bautista, Mariano, Bonifacio & Aguinaldo, 2014). Probably affirming of the increasing trend in the incidence of adolescent pregnancy are data from the Guidance and Counseling Office of the local state College in Negros Occidental. Records revealed that in the last three years, there is an increase in the number of teenage pregnancies among female adolescents enrolled in the college. There were seven cases of adolescent pregnancy recorded in June 2012-May 2013, 12 cases in June 2013-May 2014, and 21 cases recorded from June 2014 until May 2015. As observed by Herrman and Waterhouse (2010), despite of the increasing number of pregnant adolescents, little research has been done to focus on the experiences and perspectives of teen mothers. Answers to this question are deemed important towards a deeper understanding of the pregnant adolescents’ realities in aid of teaching, guidance and counseling as well as psychological servicing. FRAMEWORK This study is mainly anchored on the Psychosocial Theory of Erik H. Erikson who claimed that the fifth psychosocial crisis people experience at about the same time they experience adolescence, is the stage of Identity vs. Role Confusion (Corpuz, Lucas, Borabo, & Lucido, 2010). It is the stage of simply knowing, “Who am I?” The adolescent negotiates his role in the society. If the pregnant adolescent achieves this negotiation, a sense of identity, of knowing who one is, is acquired. If not, the individual is driven to experience role confusion. Herein presented are the various research on the protective factors to adolescent pregnancy. Certain situations become factors which shelter the adolescents from 100 JPAIR Multidisciplinary Research teenage pregnancy. Wang, Hsu, Lin, Cheng and Lee (2010) suggested that protective factors are assets that can facilitate to bring about positive outcomes, or reduce and even avoid a negative outcome in the presence of risk factors. They further described that protective factors are positive characteristics and influences in adolescents’ lives that can safeguard them from negative influences. Family support during this trying time is crucial for the adolescents. According to Vickers (2010) depression and anxiety may be experienced during this period, but because the parents provide support, a lower level of emotional distress may be experienced by pregnant teens. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY The study aimed to determine the circumstances which have led to the early pregnancy of the adolescent, those enrolled during the 2nd semester of AY 2015- 2016 in the Local State College in Negros Occidental, Philippines. METHODOLOGY Research Design The qualitative research design, specifically, the phenomenological approach was utilized. This research on the circumstances which have led to the early pregnancy of adolescents utilized nonprobability sampling method, specifically, the purposive sampling method. Research Site The study was conducted in the local state college in Negros Occidental. ParticipantsParticipants from each campus of the Local State College in Negros Occidental were chosen through referrals of the four campus guidance counsellors: Campus A, B, C and D. The participants were the pregnant students, particularly, between the ages 16-20, and were officially enrolled in the Local State College in Negros Occidental for the 2nd semester of the academic year 2015-2016. Seven pregnant adolescents were identified as participants for the research. Instrumentation The seven participants were subjected to an in-depth interview, to provide substantial information on the lived experiences of the pregnant adolescents. 101 International Peer Reviewed Journal The participants who were 18 years old and above signed a consent form, and for the participant below 18, the mother signed the consent form after the participant agreed to be interviewed. In gathering information about the lived experiences of the pregnant adolescent students, a semi-structured interview guide was utilized, which was made to undergo the scrutiny of a psychologist, to determine the appropriateness of the questions. The interview guide included a question which pertains to probing for further details regarding the circumstances which have led to the participants’ early pregnancy. Probing was made to acquire in-depth answers on the early experiences or circumstances which the participants think have led to their early pregnancy. The researcher analyzed the data generated from the interviews utilizing the basic steps in qualitative analysis by Creswell (Creswell, 2013). I n particular, soon after the verbatim transcription of each interview and recording of all observations, the significant segments of the interviews were categorized and highlighted. After reading, re-reading several times the transcriptions, the evocative segments were grouped into categories for each objective. These categories were reviewed several times, trimmed down if needed, to come up with more coherent and descriptive categories. In the later part of this chapter, the common categories were combined to make the general themes, which reflect the diverse lives of the pregnant adolescents. Significant data found in the transcript obtained during the interview were coded and categorized to identify the themes and organized them into coherent categories. The researcher returned to each participant to confirm the accuracy of the transcriptions made. The themes achieved were validated by an expert in the field of psychology vis-à-vis the transcription of interviews for the confirmation of the appropriateness and accuracy of the formulated themes about circumstances which have influenced the lives of the participants. A language expert verified the accuracy of translations of the narratives of the participants specifically cited in the research. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Circumstances which have led to participants’ early pregnancy derived two themes which are Inherent and Adventitious Factors. Inherent Factors are: 1) search for love; 2) Life-changing decisions and, 3) Lack of Awareness about sex. Adventitious Factors are 1.) Family’s social interaction and, 2) Deceived by her partner. 102 JPAIR Multidisciplinary Research Participants have attributed their early pregnancy to either of the two factors: events which were inherent in themselves, and things which were outside of their innate sphere of life. Inherent factors are those factors which the participants have control over, such as their feelings and emotions. Their love for their partner, the decisions which they have made and their lack of awareness are the examples. Adventitious factors, on the other hand, are those factors which the participants do not have control about, for these are the factors which occur outside of themselves. These are the factors which they believe wield strong influence over them yet they do not have power over, such as their family. In Her Search for Love Trite belief says, “Love makes the world go round.” Love is manifested by the pregnant adolescents in more ways than one. The maturity that comes with age redefines the concept, but for an adolescent, the term is usually associated and commonly mistaken with infatuation, if not interchangeably used. For these adolescents, their pregnancy is associated with love. Glendale said,“Nabulag sa gugma e. Pero kay palangga ko man ang laki e. Pero wala man, daw wala man ko naghinulsol nga nagbusong ko kay palangga nya man ko bala haw. Kag asta subong gina panindugan nya man ko e. Siguro ano Maam e, siguro ang love. Amu gid na sya. Indi ka man magpa tandog sa laki kung wala ang love.” (“I was blinded by love. However, I love the boy. I do not regret being pregnant because he loves me. Maybe, Ma’am, maybe it’s the love. That’s it. You don’t allow yourself to be touched by a boy if there is no love”). Aryan further compared her present life with the possible life she would have with the man she did not love, “kay sa pensar ko maupod kami nga duha, wala ko naluyag sa iya te mapakasal kami, te ano matabo sa akon sa ulihi, nga nagpakasal lang ko sa iya tungod sa bata. Waay ko naluyag, indi man ko dyapon malipay... Te wala ko dyapon nagpati sa ila kay ginpati ko dyapon ang kaugalingon ko,” (“I’m thinking if we live together while I don’t love him, what will happen to me in the end, I married somebody just because of the baby. I don’t love him, I will never be happy. I never listened to them, I only followed my own decision”) and her life with the man she loves, “Wala man ko naghinulsol nga ginpili ko ang laki na bala miss kay ano man bala miss haw, ok man lang nga mangabudlay man ko at least duha man bala kami, nalipay kami bisan gapangabudlay kami, at least nalipay ko bala miss haw.” (“I did not regret choosing this man miss, since it’s ok even though I’m miserable at least we both go through it together, we are happy though miserable, at least I am happy, miss.”) 103 International Peer Reviewed Journal Kerren attributed her adolescent pregnancy with her and her partner’s choices, when she related, “ Gin gusto man ni namon. Ang pag-ano maam e, ang paghimo sang baby.” (“We both wanted this, maam, making the baby”). According to the Triangular Model of Love (Sanderson & Safdar, 2012), a kind of love which includes passion and intimacy is a kind of Romantic Love, that which is comparable to a fleeting kind of love. The feeling of passion corresponds to infatuation and intimacy to liking. A special kind of love could be a cause of adolescent pregnancy. Twinkle narrated that, “may gina-seek, or kulang, ambot a, sa pagpalangga? Kay te away ko ya sa akon tatay mong. Guro amo na guro e. Ang pagpalangga nga inughatag ko sa father ko, nang naglain bala, nang na-ano ko nalang, napa-upok ko nalang sa iya. Nang... kay sige lang a. Daw magulang, all-in-one, older na sya ya nga daan. Daw nadala ko guro sa iya. Sagad sya mag care sa bata sa akon nga kis-a ko lang mabatyagan kay te si tatay wala” (“I mean, I seek something missing… I do not know. With love?! I was away with my tatay. Maybe that’s it. The love that I was supposed to give my father was transferred to him. Like an older brother, all-in- one, for he is older than I. He takes care of the child of me which I seldom feel, for tatay is not here”). e HH Her feeling of the lack of love from her father make her search for love in her relationships. In Freud’s terminology, Twinkle’s experience may have been a form of displacement (Kalat, 2016), when she diverted her affectionate behavior for her father to another person, towards her boyfriend. Life-Changing Decisions Some people often have to make difficult decisions. Supported by the concept of Social Psychology, these adolescents may have experienced some dissonance as an outcome of foregoing an appealing option for another appealing option. For instance, the feeling of having lost opportunities and in some cases, the lost youth. For Aryan, her pregnancy was an outcome of her indecision towards life. “ Kay daw waay man ko guro sang sang hugot bala nga desisyon haw. Wala man ko direksyon bala, kung amo na, amo lang na a. Daw waay man ko guro bala panindugan miss haw, daw waay man ko labot. Sa kaugalingon ko labot, amo na guro. Kay kung ano da amo lang na bala haw. Daw wala ko gina pamensar kung ano ang matabo, kung ano ang consequence. Ang napamensar ko ang subong, subong lang. Dason daw wala na. Amo man na ang natabo sang una.” (“Since I did not have the firm decision. I did not have any direction, whatever it is, and that’s it. I didn’t have the disposition; I didn’t seem to care. With myself I don’t care, 104 JPAIR Multidisciplinary Research maybe that’s it. Whatever comes, I didn’t seem to think of what would happen, of whatever is the consequence. I only think of the now, only the now and nothing more. That was also what happened before”). An earlier decision made by Twinkle had to a great extent influenced her early pregnancy. She revealed that, “Maybe ang early nga engaging gid siguro sa sex ang mainly gid nga nag influence sa akon. 15?! 16?! 15, sexually active na ko.” (“Maybe because I engaged in sex early. 15?! 16?! 15?! I was already sexually active”). Lack of Awareness about Sex These adolescents confirmed their lack of knowledge about their sexuality. Their lack of awareness has significantly changed their lives. Their early pregnancy might have been prevented if these adolescents had access to significant information about their reproductive processes. The lack of knowledge about their monthly reproductive system was reflected several times in the responses of these pregnant adolescents. Glendale mentioned that, “Ambot a. Timingan lang guro kay indi regular akon menstruation.” (“I don’t know. Maybe it was just coincidence since I have an irregular menstruation”). The concept of lack of knowledge about the monthly menstruation was further mirrored in the response of Ritchie, “Kay that time miss nga gabusong ko, nang... amo na bala miss, kay before ko to nabal-an, ako miss wala man ko idea nga nagbusong ko bala haw, kay that time. Daw wala nalang ko bala nag mind kay irregular akon menstruation.” (“Since that time miss that I became pregnant, before I came to know, I didn’t have any idea that I was pregnant, for during that time, I did not mind since I had an irregular menstruation”). Further, Twinkle narrated, “Wala ko ga expect nga subong gid miss ya… Wala gid ko nag expect ya, as in. Accidentally lang gid guro... wala ko kabalo kay irreg /irregular/ ko. That’s why nag salig-salig lang ko guro nga... a, irreg lang ko guro, delayed lang.” (“I did not expect miss that it would be this time… I did not expect… It was accidental… I did not know since my menstruation was irregular, maybe it was only delayed”). Some pregnant adolescents did not specify on their lack of information about their menstrual process but revealed minimal, if not the complete absence of understanding about their sexuality and pregnancy. Josie narrated, “Kay sa iya man guro, kag sa akon man nga daw wala experience, kay syempre wala ka kabalo nga gapasulod na sya gali. Siguro te sa iya, kabalo na sya kung kapasulod. Siguro wala ko kabalo kung ano na sya ang kalainan, kung ano... amo na.” (“Maybe it’s on him, and maybe with mine who is inexperienced, since I did not know that he was inserting already. Maybe on his part, he knows when he was inserting. 105 International Peer Reviewed Journal I didn’t know the negative consequences the … that’s it”). Being devoid of comprehension on matters of sex was further confirmed by Jacqui, “Wala gid ko ka muwang-muwang sa amo ni, te gahambal sya nga, “wala ni, makon kon pirme- pirme kay, kis-a man lang.” Ga amo na sya miss. Sang ka-duha to ga abot-abot pa akon tyan. Hambal ko, “waay man ni guro.” Amo to sang ka-tatlo nga na delay na bala akon tyan haw.” (“I don’t know anything on this, and he’s telling me, ‘this is nothing. We do it very seldom unless it’s frequently done.’ He tells me that, miss. For those two times, I still had my menstruation. I told myself, ‘maybe it’s nothing.’ It was during the third time when my menstruation was delayed”). In a study conducted by Asonye (2014), it was revealed that lack of sexual education is contributory to the adolescents’ premarital sexual behavior. These adolescents manifested the lack of understanding and knowledge of matters which pertain to sex and their reproductive processes. Rice (2010) said sex education ought to include adolescent pregnancy prevention, both through the teaching of responsible sex behavior and by teaching basic facts about contraception and birth control. Family’s Social Interaction The family is the minuscule reflection of the entire social system. The dynamism of social interaction within the family is a reflection of the society’s vitality. Events which happen inside this basic social unit influence the person in some ways. Glendale related about her relationship with her mother, “Kay ginbayaan nya kami duha ka tuig. Sang grade six ko. Tapos sang gamay pa gid ko e naglain na ang buot ko sa iya sugod sang naka manghod ko. Kay daw gin etsapuwera nya na ko. Kay daw ang manghod ko nalang ang gina ano nya pirme, ang ginatuunan sang pansin. Ako wala na. Tapos kung ano sala ko, a, kung ano sala sang manghod ko napasibangod sa akon, pati man sya. Te galayo nga galayo ang buot ko sa iya. Amu na. Asta subong.” (“She left us for two years when I was in grade six. When I was smaller, I felt bad towards her which started when I had a younger sibling. She had taken me for granted. It was only my younger sibling that she gave attention to, while there was none for me. When my sister did something bad, it always was made to appear it was my fault, and she believed it. My feelings brought me far from her, until now”). Glendale exhibited a classic case of the self-fulfilling prophecy, a social psychology concept which pertains to the process by which people’s expectations about a person lead them to elicit behavior that confirms these expectations 106 JPAIR Multidisciplinary Research (Sanderson & Safdar, 2012). She tells, “Kis-a nahambalan ko, “waay ka pulos klase bata, mayo pa ang iban nga bata kaysa sa imu.’ Daw kalain bala.” (“Sometimes she tells me, ‘you are a good-for-nothing daughter, other children are far better than you.’ I detest it). Glendale further pronounced, “Kung maghambal ko nga ano e, nga wala ko nobyo, amu na bala haw. Indi sya magpati. ‘Wala lang guro, tago mo lang guro,’ bisan wala pa. Amu na e, wala nya ko nasaligan. Biskan ara na na indi pa na sya magpati sa akon.” (“When I tell her I don’t have a boyfriend, she does not believe me. ‘Maybe you’re keeping it from me.’ She does not trust me. She does not believe me”). Her mother’s unfulfilled promises were also very significant to Glendale, as she recalled her youth, “First year ko top 10 pag second year ko nag top six ko, pagka third year ko nag top five ko mong, ato na kay, siling ko, “wala gid ya ni isa” tapos fourth year ko naghambal sya, “pag nag top five ka baklan ta ka cake sa birthday mo.” Te siling ko, gusto ko gid, kay wala gid na sya daan kaagi bakal cake sa akon halin sang gamay ko, tapos naka top five ko third grading wala dyapon cake naka birthday na ko wala dyapon cake. Siling ko, “a wala na.” Wala na ko gana magtuon. Asta nag sixth honor nalang ko. Ok lang a. Siling ko. Wala ko man nakuha ang akon prize bisan mag top ano pa ko.” (“When I was in first year, I belonged to the top 10, top six in second year and top five in third year, I said, ‘not even once.’ When I was in the fourth year, she told me, ‘I will buy you a cake on your birthday if you belong to the top five.’ I wanted it so much; she has not bought me a cake ever since. On the third grading, I was on top five, my birthday went by, and still there was no cake, and I told myself, ‘it’s already impossible.’ I lost the motivation to study until I only became the sixth honor. It’s ok, I told myself; I won’t get any prize at all whatever honor I would have). Jacqui affirmed that she grew fond of the newfound freedom she had in her college freshman. She narrated that, “Te wala ko bala nakapabalo sa family ko haw, nga may migo ko, gin tago-tago ko lang sa ila. Te dason diri ko naka eskwela, te ara balang wala na may gabantay sa akon, mangakig sa akon kon magab-ihan na ko. Te sa balay to todo-bantay, nabantayan gid ko pirme.” (“I had not informed my family that I had a boyfriend, I kept it from them. While I was here, nobody’s looking after me; nobody scolds me even though I would go home late. At home, I was heavily guarded all the time”). Aryan had a different story when it pertains to her family dynamics. She recalled, “pamilya. Wala time ang family miss. daw ano miss, daw indi ko nila maintyendihan bala miss haw. Daw wala ko nila gina-intyende, daw amo na. Kay gustong-gusto ko gid tani bala miss mag-open sa ila pero wala ko bala nila natagaan 107 International Peer Reviewed Journal bala miss chance haw. Daw gina-ano ko nila dayon... nahambalan lain… Gusto ko man tani mabal-an nila nga amo ni gakalatabo sa akon, amo ni gusto ko, amo ni, amo to. Tani intyendihon lang ko nila indi lang ko nila paghambalan lain… Amo na bala miss wala ko bala nila natagaan miss mag open sa ila kay lain na dayon nahimo ko… Imbes nga ihambal ko pa, taguon ko nalang ni kay total amo man lang na gali pamensaron nila sa akon.” (“Famil. My family has no time for me. They do not seem to understand me. They do not try to understand me, and that’s it. They tell me hurtful things. I have wanted them to know the things which happen to me; this is what I want… I hope they understand me and do not tell me things which are upsetting. They do not give me a chance to open up on them since they already misjudge what I do. Instead of telling them, I would rather keep it to myself, anyway, they think otherwise”). The pregnant adolescents’ narratives revealed a lack of communication and a lack of support from the family. Rice (2010) said, “Parents who provide firm guidance by setting clear standards and limits for their young adolescents are especially likely to be successful in having children behave responsibly.” Clearly, the key is not in curbing behavior but in making the adolescents understand their limitations in a responsible way. Aryan further revealed that her mother was a battered woman for as long as she can remember, and it also instilled in her a sense of fear for her father. Even her siblings were not spared by her father’s mauling, but she said he had not lifted a finger on her ever since. The problematic family experiences as causative to adolescent pregnancy have been validated by Pogoy, Verzosa, Coming and Agustino (2014) who revealed that family problems cause pregnancy among teenagers. Aryan and Glendale exemplified the results of this research. The family structure had been viewed as the foundation of every successful society; however, certain family elements can increase the risk of sexual activity and pregnancy among unmarried female adolescents (Vickers, 2010). Among these are single-headed family (illustrated by the cases of Glendale, Jacqui, Ritchie, Twinkle) whom all have absentee parents (one parent was absent), and inadequate communication herein identified by the participants’ narratives. Deceived by Her Partner If the pregnant adolescent blamed herself for early pregnancy, her partner also had his share of the decisions made. Aryan revealed one reason for her early pregnancy might have been her boyfriend’s fault since she said he had intentionally made her pregnant so that she would be compelled to be in their 108 JPAIR Multidisciplinary Research relationship. Despite the earlier decision to practice “withdrawal method” in sex, he intentionally made it, “kay hambal nya kuno gin-amo nya na kuno bala para indi nalang ko kuno madula sa iya… Bale ginhungod nya kuno bi,” she said. (“He said he did it so that he could take hold of me. He did it intentionally”). Her partner had assured Jacqui that nothing could go wrong with doing premarital sex. For Jacqui, he lured her to believe that everything would be safe, as she narrated, “… Nagsalig gid ko bala sa iya miss haw, hambal nya, ‘ah, wala na ya. Indi ka na ma-ano ya.” (“I trusted him so much miss, he told me, ‘It’s nothing. It would not cause you anything”). In the end, with the knowledge of her pregnancy, he denounced his responsibility by saying, “kay sin-o na ayhan ya…’’ (“It may be of another man”). She said he even told her, “… indi na ko kuno mag text-text sa iya” (“I should not text him anymore”), a symbol of his closure of their relationship, and a termination of his assumption of responsibility for her child. The pregnant adolescents seemed to exhibit a lack of assertiveness. According to Pipas and Jaradat (2010), assertive communication occurs when the person can say what he does not agree about without being aggressive or disturbing, but leaves room for discussion. Being assertive means being appropriately able to become open, honest and direct and being able to clarify one’s needs to the other person. Apparently, the participants were not able to express their thoughts to their partners and allowed themselves to merely obey by their partners’ will. Twinkle stated that she initially refused but eventually yielded into his advances. The realities of the pregnant adolescents are confined only to the experiences of the participants of the study. The circumstances which have influenced early pregnancy are restrained within their individual experiences. The venue becomes one of the further limitations of the research. The researcher would have wanted to detach the participant to the school setting so as to avoid any bias the person has towards the school setting. In search for better venues, however, the participants have been exposed to more people and in some instances, more prying eyes due to their physical condition. CONCLUSIONS Early experiences have contributed to the participants’ early pregnancy. Two general conditions influence the phenomenon: inherent factors and adventitious factors. The inherent factors are classified into search for love, life-changing decisions and lack of awareness about sex. The adventitious factors, on the other 109 International Peer Reviewed Journal hand, are the family’s social interaction and the fact that they were deceived by their partners. What causes adolescent pregnancy are factors which the participants can have control over. Their love for their partner, the decisions which they make, and their lack of awareness about their reproductive processes can significantly influence pregnancy at an early age. Events which happen inside the family can have a strong impact on the adolescent’s life and can influence their early pregnancy. The support or nonsupport of parents to the adolescent’s life can be very influential to the decisions that they make. TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH It has been discovered that there is a need to enhance the following skills in the pregnant adolescents: esteem, decision-making capabilities, assertiveness and positive coping skills. It has also been recognized that a prevention program could be implemented so as to impact the students’ general population. The very core of this program is to become a collaborative preventive effort to be participated in by the whole CHMSC system, including the administrators, faculty, staff and students. This program is intended to target the freshmen students, since change should commence from the beginning of college life. There will be weekly activities to target these different populations, separate activities for males and females, according to degree program: BS Business Administration, BS Criminology, BS Education, BS Fisheries, BS Information Technology. Titled as the “A FIND SELF Program (Adolescents Find Self- Empowerment for a Life Fulfilling Program), this will be implemented whole- year round. As is essential for any program, an evaluation shall be conducted after each activity, and another to evaluate the entire program at the end of the academic year. This collaborative prevention program will be an emblem of CHMSC’s lifelong commitment to the continued development of its student populace. An offshoot of the research on the lived experiences of pregnant adolescents, this preventive program will impact the entire student population, and has the following objectives: deepen self-awareness, enhance self-esteem and create a positive self-image, create a heightened awareness on adolescent sexuality issues and develop and enhance their necessary life skills. 110 JPAIR Multidisciplinary Research LITERATURE CITED Arnett, J. J. (2014). Adolescence and emerging adulthood. New York, NY, USA:: Pearson Education Limited. Asonye, P. N. (2014). Experiences and perceptions of pregnant unmarried adolescents in Nigeria. Corpuz, B., Lucas, M.R., Borabo, H.G. and Lucido, P. (2010). Child and Adolescent Development. Quezon City: Lorimar Publishing, Inc. Creswell, J. W. (2013).  Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. 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