Contraceptive Use Patterns Among Teens and Young Adults

拟议项目的具体目标是加强我们对如何维持最近在首次性行为时使用避孕药具方面的改进的理解，以便青少年和年轻人能够更经常地使用避孕药具。 拟议的项目将在目前的青少年和年轻人群体中审查避孕药具的使用模式和性关系的一致性。 我们的前提是，避孕药具的使用必须在每一次新的性关系中进行协商和维持。 了解为什么青少年和年轻人一贯使用避孕药具，以及了解不一致使用的模式，将有助于为预防意外怀孕和性传播感染的战略提供信息。按种族/族裔进行的分析将有助于解决少数种族和族裔在生殖健康方面的差异。其他亚人群分析将包括青少年和年轻人以及男性和女性的比较。拟议的项目将纳入一个生态框架，该框架假定青少年和年轻人的行为将受到来自他们生活多个领域的因素的影响。 我们将纳入多层次和多过程模型，以研究避孕药具使用模式是如何形成的个人知识和动机，每一个性关系的特点（包括合作伙伴的特点和性活动），同伴环境和家庭背景，包括亲子沟通。 我们还将研究学校，社区和政策变量的影响，如性教育计划和经济机会的存在。该项目将在全国家庭成长调查（1995年和2001年）的两个周期内分析每月使用避孕药具和性关系的历史，并在全国青少年健康纵向研究的三个周期内分析关于性关系和避孕药具使用模式的资料。

The specific aim of the proposed project is to enhance our understanding of how to sustain recent improvements in contraceptive use at first sex so that teens and young adults can become more consistent contraceptive users. The proposed project will examine patterns of contraceptive use and consistency across sexual relationships, within current cohorts of teens and young adults. Our premise is that contraceptive use must be negotiated and sustained within each new sexual relationship. Understanding why teens and young adults use contraception consistently, as well as understanding patterns of inconsistent use, will help inform strategies to prevent unintended pregnancy and STIs. Analyses by race/ethnicity will help address disparities in reproductive health among racial and ethnic minorities. Additional sub-population analyses will include comparisons of teens and young adults, and males and females. The proposed project will incorporate an ecological framework, which posits that behaviors among teens and young adults will be influenced by factors from multiple domains of their lives. We will incorporate multi-level and multi-process models to examine how contraceptive use patterns are shaped by individual knowledge and motivations, characteristics of each sexual relationship (including partner characteristics and sexual activity), peer environments and family background, including parent-child communication. We will also examine the influence of school, community, and policy variables, such as sex education programs and the presence of economic opportunities. The project will analyze month-by-month histories of contraceptive use and sexual relationships within two cycles of the National Survey of Family Growth (1995, 2001) and information on sexual relationships and contraceptive use patterns within three waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.