Abstract
Background
Adolescent pregnancy and early marriage are major public health issues with potential adverse mental health consequences, including suicidal behaviors (SBs). This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to estimate the pooled prevalence of, and the association between, adolescent pregnancy and SBs among girls aged Methods
The review systematically searched databases including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and Embase, beginning from the date of 13 June 2025. The study included any observational studies reporting the association between SBs including suicide, suicidal ideation (SI), suicide attempts (SA) and adolescent pregnancy. Meta-analysis and subgroup analyses using a random-effects model were conducted to estimate pooled prevalence and odds ratios (ORs), with I2 used to assess heterogeneity for the association between adolescent pregnancy and SI, SA, and suicide.Results
A total of 12 studies involving 125,551 pregnant adolescent women were included. The pooled estimate and 95% CIs for the prevalence of SI and SA were 14% (9% - 19%) and 6% (5% - 8%), respectively. Furthermore, subgroup meta-analysis by region indicated that the pooled estimate for the prevalence of SA is 10% (5% - 16%) for Asia, 3% (2% - 3%) for India and Africa, and 6% (1% - 10%) for developed countries. The pooled OR and 95% CI for the risk of SI was OR = 1.63 (1.21-2.05), for SA it was OR = 1.99 (1.16-2.83), and for suicide, it was OR = 1.43 (1.40-2.24) in pregnant adolescents compared to pregnant women aged over 19 years.Conclusion
Findings indicated that adolescent pregnancy was associated to an increased risk of SBs. Additionally, the pooled estimate for the prevalence of SI and SA among adolescent pregnant mothers is higher than that in the general population, as well as among unmarried teenage girls and young women.