A new study from Ateneo de Manila University has used participant-taken photographs to document what it means to be a young Filipino navigating adolescence and parenthood simultaneously — revealing stresses in partner relationships, gaps in support systems, and quiet acts of resilience among teenage parents in low-income communities.
The research, published in the August 2026 issue of the Journal of Research on Adolescence, draws on a method called "photovoice," in which participants capture or select images to represent their own lived experiences and then share the stories behind them.
Three Roles, One Body
"I'm a student, a worker, and a mother. Sometimes, I feel like I have three bodies." That statement, from a senior high school student who participated in the study, encapsulates the central tension the researchers sought to understand: how young people manage the compounding demands of education, employment, and early parenthood.
For one participant, those demands meant juggling first-year college coursework with a job as a food server while caring for a child. For another, friends stepped in where family could not — becoming a substitute support network in the absence of reliable kinship ties.
Who Participated and How the Study Worked
The study was designed and implemented by researchers Dr. Liane Alampay, Dr. Bernice Landoy Mamauag, and Jennel Reyes, in partnership with Masayang Pamilya Organization, Inc., according to the Ateneo Research Communications press release dated October 9, 2026. Nine Filipino teenage parents between the ages of 15 and 20, drawn from low-income communities in two provinces in Central Luzon, took part.
Participants were given no photography instruction. Some used images symbolically: crayons represented family bonds, while a permanent marker stood for the lasting effects of sexual interactions. The absence of technical coaching was deliberate — the goal was unmediated self-expression, not curated imagery.
The study was conducted as a needs assessment to inform the development of a formal parenting program for teenage parents, the press release stated.
Eight Themes Identified by Researchers
Through analysis of the photographs and participants' narratives, the research team identified eight core themes:
- Managing stresses and conflicts in partner relationships
- Peers as a source of emotional support
- Support and strain in family relationships
- Shifts in normative adolescent experiences and priorities
- Strain and agency in balancing multiple roles
- Desire to enhance parenting knowledge and skills
- Environmental drivers of early sexual exposure
- Sexual knowledge sourced primarily from social media
Viewed through Life Course Theory, the researchers found that these challenges are shaped by relationship dynamics and structural norms common in low-resource contexts — meaning the difficulties teen parents face are not simply personal failings but products of their environment and circumstances.
Fathers: Both Stressor and Support
The role of fathers and partners emerged as a significant and complicated factor in the study. Several mothers described conflict-laden relationships marked by imbalanced household responsibilities, financial control, and verbal and physical conflicts, according to the published research.
However, when fathers did share caregiving duties, mothers reported being better able to continue their education. This finding led the paper to call for gender-responsive strategies that bring young fathers into parenting support programs and challenge the gender norms that currently leave adolescent mothers bearing the majority of the burden.
Agency Amid Constraints
Despite the pressures documented in the study, the researchers noted that teen parents also demonstrated meaningful agency. Some continued their education or pursued employment. Others expressed a clear desire to improve how they cared for their children — a forward-looking orientation that the study treats as significant rather than incidental.
The paper argues that support programs must be designed to recognize and build on this agency, rather than treating teenage parents solely as recipients of intervention.
Calls for Structural Reforms in Services and Education
The study underscores the need for accessible counseling, healthier communication and conflict-resolution skills training, stronger support systems for young parents, and comprehensive sexual and reproductive health education, according to the Ateneo Research Communications release.
The researchers also cited a gap between existing laws and programs and the actual lived experiences of teenage parents — including persistent social stigma and services that are either inaccessible or irrelevant to their real needs.
By the Numbers
- 150,000 — estimated teenage pregnancies recorded in the Philippines in 2022
- 35% — rise in births among girls younger than 15
- 9 — teenage parents who participated in the photovoice study, aged 15 to 20
- 8 — core themes identified through analysis of participants' photographs and narratives
- 2 — provinces in Central Luzon where participants were drawn from
About the Research
The full study — "Using Photovoice and Life Course Theory to Understand the Lived Experiences of Filipino Teenage Parents" — was authored by Nina Linly Capulong, Liane Peña Alampay, Bernice Landoy Mamauag, and Jennel Drezza Fe C. Reyes. It was published in the August 2026 issue of the Journal of Research on Adolescence and is accessible through the Ateneo University archival repository.
Media inquiries may be directed to lead researcher Nina Linly D. Capulong at ncapulong@ateneo.edu. Information on Masayang Pamilya Organization, Inc. is available at masayangpamilya.org.
Why This Matters
With 150,000 teenage pregnancies recorded in the Philippines in 2022 and a 35 percent rise in births among girls under 15, the scale of the issue makes evidence-based program development urgent. This study provides direct participant-generated evidence of where existing services fall short — from inaccessible counseling to the absence of fathers in support frameworks — giving policymakers and program designers a clearer picture of what teenage parents actually need. Its call for gender-responsive, agency-affirming interventions represents a concrete direction for improving outcomes for one of the country's most underserved youth populations.
Photo credit: Masayang Pamilya Organization, Inc. via Ateneo de Manila University; "Joyce" / Capulong et al., 2026, Journal of Research on Adolescence, via Ateneo de Manila University