title: The effect of sexual behavior and a pregnancy on contraceptive method switching among black female teens.
abstract: Little is known about determinants of contraceptive method switching and few reports use data that can link events that occur close in time. Using retrospective information from the sexual calendars of black female teens who attended a reproductive health clinic, determinants of method switching in four areas were investigated. Method switchers, those who switched from an unprepared to a prepared method (n = 62) and those who switched from a prepared to an unprepared method (n = 18), were matched with nonswitchers who used the same initial method. Associations between switching and changes in the frequency of intercourse, sexual abstinence, and pregnancy were found. It is suggested that abstinence may have a different role in switching from each type of method. Counselors need to emphasize the importance of method continuation, even when sex has not occurred for a short period of time.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Hirsch
authors.forename: L S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Zabin
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Streett
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hoffman-Goldwasser
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fitzgerald
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vines
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sagan
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Hardy
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001741:Black or African American; D003268:Contraception Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011253:Pregnancy in Adolescence; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012725:Sexual Behavior