Evaluation of Sociodemographic Characteristics, Anxiety and Depression Levels of Adolescent Mothers: Sample of Ağrı province

Objective: ıt was aimed to retrospectively evaluate the sociodemographic characteristics, anxiety and depression levels of adolescent mothers who were referred for marriage leave. Material and methods: 65 adolescent cases who became mother when they applied to the outpatient clinic for marriage permission between 2018-2020. Hospital records, sociodemographic data and edited forensic reports including psychiatric evaluations of the cases were reviewed retrospectively. In order to determine their depression and anxiety levels during the evaluation period, they were asked to fill in the anxiety and depression scale-revised self-report scale and kent e-g-y and porteus labyrinths intelligence tests applied by the psychologist were applied to evaluate the cognitive development.

Results: The mean age of the subjects included in the study was 16.33±0.307 years. It was determined that the mean age at which they were married unofficially was 15.44±0.499 years. It was observed that the average education period was 5.08±1.461 years. Before the unofficial marriage, 70.8% of the cases lived in the village and 29.2% in the city, after the marriage, 53.8% of the cases lived in the village and 46.2% in the city. It has been determined that 27.7% of unofficial marriages are consanguineous marriages. It was determined that the mean age of the children of the patients when they applied to the clinic was 4.05±3,701 months.

Conclusion: Girls who married early and gave birth before the age of 18, ıt reveals that their education period is short, their socioeconomic level is low, the age gap with their spouses is high, and their spouses' job opportunities are limited. The development of intervention programs and legal regulations aimed at preventing early marriages may contribute to the prevention of both adolescent marriages and the negative consequences of being an adolescent mother.