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development of goals. Additionally, teens that have friends with high educational aspirations are more likely to refrain from getting pregnant. Parenting also plays a significant role (pp. 17-18). In her examination of a national sample of daughters of teenage mothers, Meade 30 et al., (2008) concurred, further noting that Hispanic race, poverty, deviant peer norms, and low parental monitoring all represented risk factors. The objective of Mead et al.,’s (2008) research was to determine if daughters of teenage mothers were at increased risk of becoming teenage mothers, thereby perpetuating an intergenerational cycle of teenage pregnancy. In addition to the risk factors noted above, additional factors influencing daughters of teenage mothers included the teen’s mother’s marital status and education, and the teen’s school performance, dating history, and environment in terms of race and enrichment. Daughters of teenage mothers were 66% more likely to become teenage mothers themselves (Meade et al., 2008). Parents and family structure. In today’s culture, family structures are widely varied and diverse. No longer do family structures consist of two parents and one or two children, complete with traditional extended family members (grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, etc.). The literature has identified the following family structures as those that comprise major family types (Miller, 1998): • Intact parent- nuclear • Stepfather and mother-custody families • Single parent • Divorced and/or separated parents • Two-adult traditional • Father or mother surrogate. It is generally known that the self-concept of adolescents and other areas of concern, such as academic achievement, are negatively or positively affected by varying types of family structures. Also, adolescents in disrupted families have more emotional 31 problems, lower self-esteem, higher rates of mental health consultations, and poorer perception of their school performance than those from intact families. Some studies, such as those of Bronstein and associates (2003) supported the factors of family structure, self-concept, and the development of emotional problems as predictors of earlier sexual activity on the part of the teenager. Bronstein et al., (2003) discovered these types of relationships, through empirical studies, that examined the social, psychological and academic adjustment of young people in diverse family structures. Structures in their study included two-adult households, traditional families, one-parent households, and surrogate parent structures. Families from a wide socioeconomic range located in northern Vermont were included in the research. The sample consisted of 136 young people. Of these, 77 were girls and 59 were boys. Field workers collected demographic data during the late fall and winter months. These data included family relationships and child functioning from parents and children in the home of the adolescents' fifth-grade year.