Washington, DC — New research from Child Trends indicates that teens in strong, positive romantic relationships are more likely to use contraception. The study finds:
A new fact sheet summarizes the findings of the study, which was published in the journalDemography and analyzes survey data from high school students to identify contraceptive use patterns. Among the other findings:
“Inconsistent use of contraceptives puts teens at a high risk for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unplanned pregnancies,” said Jennifer Manlove, Ph.D., one of the study’s authors.
“Pregnancy prevention programs should pay more attention to the importance of partners and relationships in teens’ sexual decision making and should consider integrating the multiple dimensions of sexual relationships into role-playing exercises to help teens learn how to negotiate contraceptive use with their partners.”
Child Trends’ analysis is based on the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a nationally representative survey of youth in grades seven through twelve.
Child Trends is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research center that studies children from pregnancy to the transition to adulthood. Its mission is to improve outcomes for children by providing research, data, and analysis to the people and institutions whose decisions and actions affect children.
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