Contraceptive Use Patterns across Female Teens’ Sexual Relationships

Jennifer Manlove, Child Trends
Suzanne Ryan, Child Trends
Kerry Franzetta, Child Trends

Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we examine how characteristics of girls' current and previous sexual relationships and partners are associated with contraceptive consistency across their sexual relationships. By sequentially ordering all of girls’ sexual relationships, from first to most recent, we have a wealth of information about previous relationships that we examine to see how they influence subsequent relationships. Our sample includes 2,414 female adolescents who reported a total of 5,344 sexual relationships. We find that characteristics of current and previous sexual relationships and partners, as well as individual and family background factors, are associated with contraceptive consistency across girls' sexual relationships. analyzes control for unobserved individual-level factors that may be associated with sexual and contraceptive use histories and current contraceptive consistency.