This interesting paper has important implications for preventive psychiatry: the findings suggest that many of the out-of-wedlock pregnancies studied were a

result of immature cognitive mechanisms rather than psychological factors. Interviews with single adolescent girls who had undergone an elective abortion were conducted. In most cases, the knowledge of birth control could not be converted into practice, and pregnancy was an unintended consequence of sexual activity. Lasting sexual intimacy was not experienced, nor did the girls have much curiosity about their bodies. Thinking was seen to be figurative; that is, essentially set into motion by sensory input, rather than operative, which would involve the anticipation necessary for the use of birth control methods other than the IUD.