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  • Title: [Attempt to elaborate an explanating model of adolescents' contraceptive behavior].
    Author: Bodson B, Bogaerts S, Mondeville D, Sciama S, Vandekeere M.
    Journal: Contracept Fertil Sex (Paris); 1986 Nov; 14(11):1013-8. PubMed ID: 12269088.
    Abstract:
    Of the 3 main currents of literature seeking to explain adolescent pregnancy, the medical and demographic currents have essentially produced descriptions of behaviors, attitudes, and opinions, while the psychological current has produced primarily hypotheses interpreting sexual and contraceptive behavior in terms of predispositions. This work seeks to develop an explanatory framework for adolescent sexual and contraceptive behavior in which situational variables would be included. The explanatory variables utilized in the framework were informative and sociological variables, beliefs associated with side effects of contraceptive methods, social support for contraceptive use, norms associated with heterosexual behavior, ability to foresee future consequences, future prospects, perceptions of pregnancy and its consequences, and evaluation of the risk of pregnancy. A semiclosed questionnaire exploring the different model variables was orally administered to 186 female secondary school students in Liege, France. The data were subjected to a discriminant function analysis which permitted assessment of the role of each explanatory variable in determining contraceptive behavior. 53% of the respondents did not use contraception. 91% of those using contraception used pills. 5 types of contraceptive behavior were noted: 1) 20% of the sample were sexually active and had always used contraception 2) 20% were sexually active and used contraception but had not always done so 3) 13% were sexually active but had never used contraception 4) 40% were not sexually active and did not use contraception, and 5) 7% were not sexually active but used a contraceptive. The variables explained 75% of the difference between adolescents who used and did not use contraception, and 39% of the difference between adolescents ever exposed to risk of pregnancy or never exposed. The principle variables explaining use or nonuse of contraception were stated in declining order of importance. Girls having sexual relations under 17 years of age were much less likely to use a contraceptive method. 3 dimensions of norms associated with sexual behavior were relevant: adolescents using contraception had a more positive attitude toward sex, were less affected by aversion to programming or planning sexual activity, and had a more flexible sexual morality. Adolescents using contraception had parents and other associates who were more likely to approve of pill use, and they had less fear of the side effects of pills. Adolescents not using contraception tended to be under 17, with rigid norms associated with sexual behavior, weak social support for pill use, and beliefs in the negative effects of pills. Sexually active adolescents not using contraception tended to come from larger families, to have more unfavorable views of condoms than other adolescents, to have less social support for use of condoms than other adolescents, to want to have a child within the next 2 years, and to come from the lower social classes.
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