The study was conducted in a predominantly white, Anglo-Saxon community. Data from the interviews were quantified, and a probit analysis was performed to determine which, if any, of the variables could distinguish between mothers and non-mothers. Teenage mothers tended to have experienced foster care; family violence; parental substance abuse; lower educational achievements; and violence, alcohol abuse, and lower education among their boyfriends to a greater extent than did non-mothers. The family problems of the teen mothers, apparently having led to school problems and association with troubled males, may have led to a lifestyle with more frequent sexual encounters than was experienced by the non-mothers. The cognitive immaturity of adolescents, indicated in part by their misunderstanding of contraceptive technology, increased the likelihood of an accidental pregnancy. 2 tables, 26 references. (Author abstract modified)