The research found that teenage fathers were 80% more likely to follow suit and copy their fathers behaviour.

According to Heather Sipsma from Yale in a recent interview with Reuters she said: "there had been a lot of evidence documenting this cycle among mothers and daughters." It would perhaps now suggest that the same is true of fathers and sons, according to Sipsma and the American Journal of Public Health.

The research was conducted amongst a sample size of 1,500 teenage boys who participated in a long-term US government funded study. From the sample, of the boys aged between 13-14 at the beginning of the study, 9% became fathers by the age of 20.

The research found that there were multiple factors linked to the increased likelihood of becoming a teenage father, including: reduced/ poor education levels among the boys' mothers in particular. Furthermore, growing up in rough neighbourhoods and delinquency.

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