Teenage pregnancy has a history of being a “social problem” in the United States, with there
being higher rates in rural communities. Social support, a contributor to improving mental health
outcomes, can significantly impact a teenager’s pregnancy and parenting experience. Using House’s
(1981) social support framework, this study explores the teenagers’ perceptions of how their rural
community reacted and responded to them as pregnant and parenting teenagers. The results were
formulated through the thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews (n = 26) with current and
former pregnant and/or parenting teenagers. The participants reported experiencing both positive
and negative social support. There were more reports of emotional support and instrumental support
among the forms of positive support than there were in the other categories. Informational support
was lacking. The appraisal support from community members was negative. There is a need for rural
communities to develop effective social support strategies to provide positive support for pregnant
and parenting teenagers.