Factors differentiating effective use of contraception among adolescents
Herceg-baron, R.; Harris, K.M.; Armstrong, K.; Furstenberg, F.; Shea, J.
Advances in Adolescent Mental Health 4: 37-50
1990
ISSN/ISBN: 0891-9879 PMID: 12317631 Document Number: 377940
Researchers analyzed longitudinal data on 445 13-17 year old female teenagers who attended 1 of 9 federally funded family planning clinics in and around Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to examine individual, social, and behavioral factors of effective contraceptive use. Adolescents who effectively used birth control had already practiced effective use of contraception before coming to the clinic, were in a monogamous relationship, and performed well in school, or at least deemed themselves to be cautious if school performance was low (p=.05). Unlike results of other studies, family structure, religiosity, education level, age, career ambitions, and support of friends or family members had no significant effect on effective contraceptive use. Teenagers who stopped taking the contraceptive shortly after the 1st clinic visit had poorly used contraceptives before the clinic visit and experienced their 1st sexual intercourse at an early age (p=.05). The results indicated that clinic services which support contraception in the 1st 3-6 months after 1st visit help the adolescents to surmount difficulties in establishing successful use. Social and performance factors had more of an effect on adolescents who had constantly used contraception for =or 6 months. They tended to have infrequent intercourse, dated occasionally, and, for those who did not do well in school, considered themselves to be risk takers. Favorable attitudes toward contraception were positively associated with continuous contraceptive use (p=.05). Identifying factors of effective contraceptive use helps professionals to evaluate an adolescent's risk status.