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Young Women's Perceptions of the Benefits Of Childbearing: Associations with Contraceptive Use and Pregnancy
Author(s) -
Rocca Corinne H.,
Harper Cynthia C.,
RaineBennett Tina R.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
perspectives on sexual and reproductive health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.818
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1931-2393
pISSN - 1538-6341
DOI - 10.1363/4502313
Subject(s) - pregnancy , unintended pregnancy , feeling , family planning , medicine , discontinuation , fertility , context (archaeology) , demography , population , psychology , gynecology , obstetrics , social psychology , environmental health , psychiatry , genetics , sociology , research methodology , biology , paleontology
Context High unintended pregnancy rates, and inconsistencies between reported pregnancy intentions and contraceptive behaviors, have been well documented among young U.S. women. Women's beliefs about the benefits of childbearing and motherhood may be related to the apparent disconnect between pregnancy intentions and reproductive outcomes.Methods Perceived benefits of childbearing and feelings about a potential pregnancy were assessed among 1,377 women aged 15–24 (most of them black or Latina) participating in a longitudinal study in 2005–2008. The women, who were initiating hormonal contraception at public family planning clinics and did not want to become pregnant for one year, were followed for 12 months. Differences in perceived benefits of childbearing by participant characteristics were examined with linear regression, using a new multi‐item measure. Cox proportional hazard regression was used to investigate the association of perceived benefits of childbearing with subsequent contraceptive discontinuation and pregnancy.Results Perceptions of the benefits of childbearing decreased with increasing age (coefficient, –0.04), and white women perceived fewer benefits to childbearing than blacks (−0.2). As women's perception of the benefits of childbearing increased, their one‐year pregnancy rates increased, after demographic characteristics and feelings about a potential pregnancy were controlled for (hazard ratio, 1.2). Benefits of childbearing were not associated with contraceptive discontinuation.Conclusions To better assess pregnancy risk among young women wanting to avoid pregnancy, it may be useful to acknowledge that they hold not only explicit pregnancy desires, but also beliefs about the benefits of childbearing, which may influence sexual behavior and pregnancy.