I have chosen to use a quasi-experimental design for the purposes of my study.

This is similar to a traditional experimental design, but the groups are not randomized and may have a control group. It is the most rational choice for my proposed study because I would like to observe young girls from !- " years old and quasi-experimental is especially helpful for making such observations, as well as cross sectional studying. #ome of the advantages of this study, is that it is helpful during cross-sectional studies. This design could also help reduces the risk of losing external validity as studying natural environments do not alter reactions as a lab or controlled environment might. In a perfect world, my target participants would be young girls ages !- " who are currently pregnant and a control group of !- " year old non-pregnant teenagers. I would like to have a cross-sectional study using beck$s anxiety inventory as well as beck%s depression inventory. I would then measure st, &nd and !rd trimester pregnancy to gauge depression and anxiety levels of the pregnant teenagers that participated in the study to see if their are defining characteristics in the population. 'ecruitment of participants would be of convenience, through school programs to help the girls. (lso, since most participants would be minors, parents would be giving informed consent for their after being given a copy of their rights as participants.

)y independent variable will be each participants experience with or without childhood abuse. I will measure this by self report of early childhood abuse that may have occurred. )y dependent variables will be both levels of depression in each trimester and levels of anxiety is each trimester. These will be measured with beck%s depression inventory and beck%s anxiety inventory. The experiment will be controlled by the group of non-pregnant teenagers, whom will measured once to see the contrast of a non-pregnant teenager to the st, &nd and !rd trimesters of the teenagers who are pregnant. (s this is an observational study, I do not foresee many ethical concerns to arise, however, if depression and anxiety become harmful to pregnant mothers, referrals to appropriate doctors and physicians may be needed to keep each individual and their soon to be offspring safe.