The series is produced in a documentary format, with an animation on notebook paper showing highlights during each episode preceding the commercial breaks.

[5] In 2016, a New York Times study of the 50 TV shows with the most Facebook Likes found that "similar to Teen Mom, 16 and Pregnant is more popular in rural parts of the country".

[7] A 2012 survey by The National Campaign also praises the show for encouraging discussion regarding teenage pregnancy between viewers aged 10–19, their peers, and their parents.

[8] Viewership of 16 and Pregnant was found to be most successful as a method of intervention for teens aged 15–16 living in states that do not require sex education to be taught in schools.

[9] Additionally, the researchers discovered that viewers perceived the benefits of teen pregnancy to be greater than the risks, given the positive conclusions in participants' stories.

The study concluded that there was indeed a correlation between viewership and the search of these topics, indicating the show did have an effect on the decline of teen pregnancy rates at the time.

The latest study revealed, through a series of placebo and other tests, that the correlation between common trends in birth rates, and regional viewership of MTV, is not founded.