Ambivalence and Pregnancy: The Effect of Adolescents' Attitudes on Contraception and Pregnancy
Year: 2001
Type: article
Abstract: It has been argued that adolescents who get pregnant often do not sufficiently appreciate its unfavorable consequences, and that prevention programs should target participants' attitudes towards pregnancy. This study tests whether the nature and certainty of sexually active adolescent girls' attitudes towards pregnancy influence their contraceptive consistency and risk of pregnancy. It also tests whether attitudes towards contraception influence contraceptive consistency. Data are drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a nationwide prospective study of adolescents in grades 7-12. Attitudes towards pregnancy, attitudes towards contraception, knowledge about fertility and other individual characteristics are included in a multivariate model of contraceptive consistency. Those variables, as well as contraceptive consistency itself, are then included in a multivariate model of pregnancy. Net of other factors, girls' attitudes towards getting pregnant did not affect whether they actually became pregnant. However, ambivalence about pregnancy made girls less likely to use contraception. Girls who were most opposed to pregnancy did not differ in contraceptive consistency from those least opposed. Implications for pregnancy prevention efforts are discussed.
DOI: 10.7916/d8gx4jd6
Institution: Columbia University
Language: English
Subfield: General Health Professions
Field: Health Professions
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1554869532