AN EMPIRICAL ASSESSMENT OF A DECISION-MAKING MODEL OF CONTRACEPTIVE USE AND NONUSE AMONG ADOLESCENT GIRLS

NANCY BARBARA PEACOCK, Purdue University

Abstract

Teen pregnancy rates in this country are among the highest in the world. Approximately 11% of all American teenagers became pregnant each year between 1973 and 1978. While the majority of pregnant teenagers state that they did not intend to become pregnant, most were not using contraception consistently or effectively. However, studies have shown that lack of knowledge about reproduction or contraception is no longer a primary reason for teens' lack of contraceptive use. The consequences of teenage pregnancy and child-bearing are far-reaching. The maternal death rate from complications of pregnancy and delivery is 60% higher among girls under 15 years of age, and 13% higher among those aged 15 to 19, than it is among women in their 20's. Poor nutrition, inadequate prenatal care, and physical immaturity are all major contributors to the medical complications of teenage pregnancy and delivery. Pregnancy and motherhood are the major cause of high school drop out among women. Lack of high school education, lack of job experience, and childcare responsibilities all combine to restrict the employment potential of young mothers. Teen mothers are about two and one-half times more likely than older mothers to be dependent on welfare. Many attempts have been made to explain the puzzling phenomenon of a very high American Teen pregnancy rate. Lack of knowledge about, or availability of contraception is rarely cited by teens as their reason for not using contraception; however, teens do appear to underestimate their own biological ability to become pregnant. Psychological and psychiatric theories have proved disappointing as a means for differentiating contraceptive users from nonusers. The present study represents an empirical investigation of sociologist Kristin Luker's decision-making model of contraceptive use and nonuse. Luker's theory states that contraceptive decisions are based on the woman's rational, subjective assessment of all costs and benefits accruing to decision to contracept or not to contracept; further, she enumerates a specific list of costs and benefits which she believes are constituent elements of this decision-making process. The first step in this study was the construction of a questionnaire to gather data on teens' perceptions of the costs and benefits related to their own contraceptive use or nonuse. The questionnaire was completed by 132 teenage girls, of whom 106 were sexually active. Analyses were performed on the sexually-active subsample to determine which variables were most predictive of contraceptive use. None of the cost or benefit variables delineated in Luker's theory differentiated users from nonusers. The only differentiating issue was the girl's perception of the financial cost required to obtain contraception. Both the contracepting and noncontracepting girls in the study grossly underestimated their own ability to conceive. These surprising findings warrant further study.

Degree

Ph.D.

Subject Area

Families & family life|Personal relationships|Sociology

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