The Personal Growth and Pregnancy Preparedness Scale (PGaPPS)
by Cedric S. Wood, Ph.D.
We give our children and teens many tests of academic growth every year. Why don't we give teenagers an assessment of maturity, personal growth, and readiness to become parents?
In my "Personal Growth and Pregnancy Preparedness Scale (PGaPPS)" there are questions that determine whether a teen is ready to bring a baby into the world and be a competent parent. Teens are falling in love, having sex, and getting pregnant. Do they know how fit a mother or father they would be? Let's help them develop a more clear idea.
The Personal Growth and Parenting Preparedness Scale (PGaPPs)
1. Age Points to award
11 to 18 0
18 to 20 1
21 to 23 2
24 on 3
2. Marital Status
Single or Dating but there is chaos & conflict (unhealthy dating style) 0
Committed relationship (more than 1 but less than 2 years)
AND there is no chaos and very little conflict (healthy dating style) 1
(dating steadily for 2 or more years). Engaged and no C or C. 2
Married 3
3. Criminal/Alcohol/Drugs/Gang/Truancy Score (CADGT)
Has a history of criminal or gang involvement or truancy violations 0
Has had several incidents but has 6 months of a clean record 1
Has had only one or two infractions or 1 year since any 2
Has a clean record, no incidents of the above, or 2 years clean 3
4. Physical Health
Has 2 or more physical illnesses; Smokes, Drinks or Drugs 0
Has 2 or more physical illnesses/Does not smoke, drink, or drugs 1
Only one physical illness/Does not smoke or drink 2
Teen has a strong body with few if any illness/
Does not smoke, drink, or use drugs 3
5. Family Support
Conflictual or distant relationship with mother and father 0
Has one parent who is mature and has a supportive re'ship with her/him 1
Has 2 or 3 adults who can baby sit and are supportive 2
Has 4 adults in the person's life who care and live close to the teen 3
Teen has 2-3 older siblings/spouse willing to help baby sit ……… add 1
6. Family Functionality: If you have a family that is
Dysfunctional (teenage pregnancies, multiple marriages, conflict, abuse, trauncil) 0
Somewhat less dysfunctional 1
Almost lacking in dysfunctionality 2
Functioning very well, no divorce, no major conflict, abuse, trauncil 3
7. Family Financial support
Parents are worth less than 20,000 0
are worth between 20,000 and 40,000 1
are worth between 40,000 and 60,000 2
are worth more than 60,000 3
8. Boyfriend/husband is working a solid job and/or is worth
less that 20,000 0
between 20 and 40,000 1
between 40 and 60,000 2
more than 60,000 3
9. Financial status: You are
worth 10,000 of less 0
worth 10 - 15,000 1
worth 15 to 20,000 2
worth + 20,000 3
10. Level of Parenting/Relationship training
No training on how to take care of a baby 0
Having completed the p.a.p.a program/baby training class 1
Having completed a semester of training or both of above 2
add 1 for each 20 hour training class 3
11. Psychological Fitness (only the points are shared with the student, nothing else)
Teen scores poorly on the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) 0
Is at risk for developing psychological problems 1
Is at risk for some self-esteem, self-confidence problems 2
Scores in the normal range (little risk) 3
12. Grade Point Average (GPA)
Teen scores below a 70 (-1.0) 0
Teen scores between a 70 and 80 (+1.0) 1
Teen scores between 80 and 90 (+2.0) 2
Teen scores are more than a 90 (+3.0) 3
13. Workplace Skills
11th grade education or less 0
12th grade 1
H.S. graduate 2
Post HS job training 3
Associates degree 4
College Degree 5
Master's Degree 6
Doctoral Degree 7
14. The Personal Sense of the Purpose of Having a Baby
The teen feels that having a baby will
a. will give her a chance to prove she is really an adult worthy of love 0
b. finally give her someone who will love her since no one else does 0
c. finally her someone to love since there is no one else to love 1
d. finally give her a chance to prove she can be a good mother 2
3. to start a family with her/his spouse in a committed relationship 3
15. Maturity and Personal Growth
Shows very little maturity and understanding how expensive having a baby is and how much responsibility it takes to raise a child and shows little consideration for others' needs in his/her family. 0
The teen has shown some maturity but still needs some personal growth 1-2
Shows Maturity and Understanding about how expensive having a baby is and how much responsibility and time it takes to raise a child and shows consideration for others' needs in his/her family: 3
Teens are asking:
Help me understand if I'm ready or not. Quantify it for me! Paint me a picture so I'll know if I'm ready!
A "50" is a perfect score. They can score higher than 50 but 45 is the target score. The cutoff score for being "minimally prepared" is 35.
{c} Copyright 2009 Cedric Wood
Feb. 2, 2009
