Perceived competence and contraceptive use during adolescence.
BACKGROUND
Little is known about psychosocial correlates of different contraceptive methods in adolescence.


METHODS
Cross-sectional analyses of 209 postmenarcheal girls [mean age (years)+/-SD=15.68+/-1.74], primarily Caucasian (62.8%) or African American (32.8%). Competence (activities and social) and rule-breaking behavior were assessed by the Youth Self Report (YSR; adolescent) and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL; parent). Three contraceptive-use groups were created: no hormonal contraceptive (n=142), combined oral contraceptives or the transdermal patch (COCs/patch, n=41), and depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA, n=20).


RESULTS
There was a significant effect of contraceptive-use group on competence (p=.003). The DMPA group had lower competence (CBCL activities and social; YSR social) than the no-hormonal-contraceptive and COCs/patch groups. The COCs/patch group scored lower than the no-hormonal-contraceptive group on YSR activities competence, but was not different from the DMPA group. Lastly, there was an effect of contraceptive-use group on CBCL (but not YSR) rule-breaking behavior (p=.029) with the DMPA group having higher rule-breaking behavior than the other groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Type of contraceptive method was associated with parent and adolescent's perceived competence. For rule-breaking behavior, parental perception may be more relevant to contraceptive use.
Hillman
Jennifer B
JB
Division of Adolescent Medicine, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USA. jennifer.hillman@cchmc.org
Negriff
Sonya
S
Dorn
Lorah D
LD
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D003268:Contraception Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D003271:Contraceptive Agents, Female / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012919:Social Behavior; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D003271:Contraceptive Agents, Female