Contraceptive self-efficacy: does it influence adolescents' contraceptive use?
This research investigates the relationship between contraceptive self-efficacy and contraceptive use, measured one year later, among adolescent boys and girls. Data are obtained from the two waves of the restricted use sample of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (n = 3,577). Employing multiple regression and logistic regression strategies, we examine whether demographic and background characteristics influence contraceptive self-efficacy, and whether contraceptive self-efficacy increases the likelihood of contraceptive use. We find that adolescents who are female, older, live with step-parents, and whose mothers approve of contraceptive use report higher contraceptive self-efficacy, while adolescents whose mothers did not complete high school report lower contraceptive self-efficacy. Results partially support the expectation that adolescents with higher contraceptive self-efficacy act accordingly by using contraceptives.
Department of Sociology, Center for Family and Demographic Research, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio 43403, USA. mseff@bgnet.bgsu.edu
Monica A
MA
Longmore
Wendy D
WD
Manning
Peggy C
PC
Giordano
Jennifer L
JL
Rudolph
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D003268:Contraception Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States