teen pregnancy may be a marker of adverse life experiences preceding and/or during the formative teen years. For example, there is a dose-response association of exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)—such as sexual and emotional abuse, parental divorce or separation, or income decline9—with subsequent teen pregnancy,10,11 substance use,12 and suicide.13 ACEs are also associated with premature mortality.9,14,15
I do think this is a strong confounder, but very very interesting results