Adolescents' preference of source to obtain contraceptive information

Abstract

The Adolescent Study, performed as part of the Child Health and Development Studies (CHDS), included an interview in which the adolescents were asked to respond to questions on social and family planning. The adolescents' responses to 1 particular question of this interview regarding the place or person to whom the adolescent would go for information on pregnancy prevention appears to be of particular pertinence in relation to the current issues regarding "Parental Notification Regulations." Recently, the federal government adopted the regulation that agencies receiving funds under Title 10 of the Public Health Service Act must notify a parent or guardian of an unemancipated minor (17 years of age or younger) within 10 days after a prescription contraceptive drug or device has been issued. The regulation has been opposed by major medical associations and has been challenged in court in a lawsuit brought by the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc., resulting in a permanent injunction barring the government from enforcing or implementing the regulation. The government has appealed this decision. The main focus of the Adolescent Study was on blood pressure measurements of adolescents and their mothers. The study also included anthropometric and spirographic measurements, health interviews, and behavioral and attitudinal questionnaires of adolescents and their mothers. 31.4% of the 15 year old girls chose their mother as the person they would be most likely to go to for more information on pregnancy or pregnancy prevention. This proportion was 23.0% for 16 year old girls and 20.5% among the 17 year olds. The choice of father and mother was reduced from 5.6% for 15 year old girls to 1.8% for the 17 year olds. Father exclusively was never mentioned by the girls. For the boys, both parents were preferred by about 10% of the boys and father alone or mother alone, about equally by 7-8% of the boys. The single 1st choice most often mentioned was birth control clinics, increasing for girls from 20% at 15 years to 34% at 17 years. For boys, the percentage was more constant by age at about 26%. A doctor was mentioned as the primary source of information by about 10% of the aodlescent boys and girls. Besides these choices, either another relative or an adult friend or as a friend of the same age was mentioned by about 30% of the adolescents. The data suggest that even if family relationships are favorable, the majority of adolescents intend to seek advice on conception and contraception primarily outside the family.