National Survey Of Family Growth Data Research Articles

The frequency of pregnancy recognition across the gestational spectrum and its consequences in the United States

The frequency of pregnancy recognition across the gestational spectrum and its consequences in the United States

Premarital Cohabitation and Marital Dissolution: A Reply to Manning, Smock, and Kuperberg

AbstractObjectiveOur goal is to show how premarital cohabitation's association with marital dissolution can be measured consistently over time.BackgroundRosenfeld and Roesler (2019) showed that premarital cohabitation led to lower rates of marital dissolution early in marital duration, but higher rates of marital dissolution after a few years of marital duration. Analysis based on marriage cohorts can erroneously appear to show that the association between premarital cohabitation and marital dissolution has disappeared in the most recent cohort.MethodWe use discrete time event history models to study the association between premarital cohabitation and marital dissolution across calendar time and across marriage cohorts, with data from the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG). We examine a variety of modeling strategies and data filters including those in Manning, Smock, and Kuperberg's (MSK) comment to show how different data and modeling choices can bias the results.ResultsMSK's analysis rests on simple misunderstandings of our models. MSK discarded more than 70% of the valid couple years available in the NSFG data, and then used the resulting lower statistical power to declare a key interaction insignificant. MSK treat children as a time‐invariant variable despite the fact that the presence of children changes over the course of relationships. MSK discard one wave of the data without explanation. All of these choices affect the outcome.ConclusionOur prior result stands: premarital cohabitation consistently predicts higher rates of marital dissolution in the U.S. Research into marital dissolution should be made more robust, transparent, and replicable.

Prevalence of Sexual Initiation Before Age 13 Years Among Male Adolescents and Young Adults in the United States

Despite similar sexual activity rates among male and female adolescents, males are more likely to have their first sexual intercourse before age 13 years. The developmental needs and pathways to healthy trajectories for young males remain unknown. To examine the prevalence of sexual intercourse before age 13 years among male adolescents; the variation by race/ethnicity, location, and maternal educational level; and the wantedness of this first sexual experience. This cross-sectional analysis was conducted from September 2017 to June 2018, using pooled 2011, 2013, and 2015 data from the school-based Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) and the 2006 to 2015 data of males aged 15 to 24 years from the household-based National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG). The percentage of males reporting sexual onset before age 13 years was estimated using survey-weighted logistic regression to test for differences by race/ethnicity within each national survey and within metropolitan areas (for YRBSS, high school and middle school samples). Among NSFG survey respondents, differences in wantedness of first sexual intercourse by age at first sexual intercourse were examined, along with the associations between sexual initiation and socioeconomic covariates. Sexual onset before age 13 years. Data from a total of 19 916 male high school students (from YRBSS) and 7739 males aged 15 to 24 years (from NSFG) were included in the analysis. The sample was largely composed of non-Hispanic white males: 8789 (57.1%) from the YRBSS and 3737 (58.0%) from the NSFG. Sexual onset before age 13 years was reported nationally by 7.6% (95% CI, 6.8%-8.4%) of male high school students and 3.6% (95% CI, 3.0%-4.2%) of males aged 15 to 24 years. The proportion of male students who reported having sexual intercourse before age 13 years varied across metropolitan sites, from 5% (95% CI, 4%-7%) in San Francisco, California, to 25% (95% CI, 23%-28%) in Memphis, Tennessee, with elevated rates among non-Hispanic black and Hispanic males in most metropolitan areas. In the NSFG data set, respondents whose mothers had a college degree or higher educational level were statistically significantly less likely (OR, 0.31; 95% CI, 0.19-0.49) to report having sexual intercourse before age 13 years compared with those whose mothers did not have a college degree. Among males who reported having their first sexual experience before age 13 years, 8.5% (95% CI, 3.8%-17.8%) described their first sexual intercourse as unwanted. Rates of sexual onset before age 13 years among young males varied by race/ethnicity, location, and maternal educational level, presenting important implications for the provision of early, inclusive, and comprehensive sex education and sexual and reproductive health care to male children and adolescents.

Change in the Stability of First Premarital Cohabitation Among Women in the United States, 1983–2013

The rapid growth in cohabitation over the past quarter-century necessitates studies of changes in the stability and outcomes of cohabitation. We utilized data from the 1988 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) and the most recent NSFG data from 2011-2013 to examine the outcomes of two comparable cohorts of first premarital cohabiting women (1983-1988 and 2006-2013). Our results showed that cohabitations formed between 2006 and 2013 lasted longer-18 months, on average-than those formed in the mid-1980s, which lasted for an average of 12 months. We found that the lengthening of cohabitation over time cuts across sociodemographic characteristics-race/ethnicity, education, and motherhood status-and resulted mostly from the declining rate of transitioning to marriage. We found some support for the diverging destinies perspective in that disparities in the outcomes of cohabitation by education and by cohabiting birth have widened over time. Our analyses showed that changes in the outcomes of first premarital cohabiting unions over the past three decades were not due to compositional shifts in cohabitors. These results demonstrate the evolving dynamics of cohabitation over a 30-year window.

Sexual Orientation and Pregnancy Among Adolescent Women in the National Survey of Family Growth, 2002–2015

Purpose: Given elevated pregnancy rates, fluctuating sexual identity, and varying sexual experience among adolescent sexual minority women (ASMW; lesbian/bisexual identity, attraction to/sex with females), research should assess adolescent pregnancy by sexual attraction with identity and experience. This study examined associations of three aspects of sexuality-identity, attraction, and experience-with pregnancy among ASMW versus non-ASMW. Methods: Population-weighted data were drawn from the 2002 to 2015 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG), 15- to 19-year-old female subsample (n = 5481). Multivariable logistic regression models (adjusted for age, race/ethnicity, and survey cycle) compared pregnancy among ASMW versus non-ASMW by sexual identity, attraction, and experience separately, and in a combined model in which interaction of aspects of sexuality and survey cycle was tested. The combined model was then stratified by survey cycle. Results: Although not significant in the combined model, sexual minority versus heterosexual identity (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.74, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.21-2.51, p = 0.003) and sexual minority versus exclusive male attraction (aOR = 1.49, 95% CI = 1.10-2.01, p = 0.011) individually predicted higher pregnancy odds. There was significant interaction between attraction and survey cycles. Sexual minority attraction predicted significantly decreased pregnancy odds (aOR = 0.59, 95% CI = 0.38-0.90, p = 0.014) in combined 2002 to mid-September 2013 NSFG data, but increased odds (aOR = 1.59, 95% CI = 0.63-4.02, p = 0.324) in the rest of 2013-2015. Conclusion: These results suggest the importance of measuring sexual attraction when examining pregnancy disparities among ASMW. Sex education and teen pregnancy prevention programs should reflect sexual diversity.

Nonvolitional sex and HIV-related sexual risk behaviours among MSM in the United States.

We estimated the prevalence of lifetime nonvolitional sex (NVS) among MSM by demographic characteristics, and characterized its association with HIV-related sexual risk behaviours among MSM in the United States. The National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) is a nationally representative cross-sectional survey of the United States. NSFG data from recent cycles 2002, and 2006-2010 were weighted and analysed for men aged 18-44 years who reported ever having anal or oral intercourse with another male. Associations of lifetime NVS (forced sex by men or women) and age of first NVS experience (<18 vs. ≥18 years), with HIV-related sexual risk behaviour outcomes in the past 12 months (i.e. sex with two or more male sex partners; exchanged sex for money or drugs; sex with IDU; sex with HIV-positive person; sex with two or more female sex partners) were assessed using adjusted prevalence ratios (aPR). An estimated 3 226 872 or 5.8% of men aged 18-44 years were identified as MSM with 24.6% of them reporting ever experiencing NVS. MSM reporting NVS at age 18 years or older were more likely to have had sex with an IDU [aPR = 4.40; 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.78-10.88] and exchanged sex for money or drugs (aPR = 2.52; 95% CI 1.17-5.43) in the past 12 months compared with those not reporting NVS. NVS for MSM less than 18 years of age was associated with exchanging sex for money or drugs. Effective interventions to raise awareness of NVS among MSM and to offer support for MSM who have experienced NVS are needed.

Who wants to adopt and who wants to be adopted: a sample of American families and sub-Saharan African orphans.

The debate between pro- and anti-international adoption advocates relies heavily on rhetoric and little on data analysis. To better understand the state of orphans and potential adopters in this debate, we utilize the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) and the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) to study who adopts internationally and the status of orphaned children in sub-Saharan Africa. According to NSFG data adopters are church going, highly educated, stable families aware of the challenges faced by international adoption, with high rates of infertility and rates of child abuse half the population average. According to the DHS data, orphans in sub-Saharan Africa suffer from significantly higher deprivation, reduced schooling and increased levels of stunting and underweight reported than their cohort. Using this data, we estimate conservatively that that 1 50 000 orphans from our sample of sub-Saharan African countries died from their 5-year birth cohort. Given the large number of families seeking to adopt and the high number of orphan deaths, it seems counterproductive to restrict international adoptions given the significantly lower risks faced by children in adopted families compared with remaining orphaned.

Estimates of young breast cancer survivors at risk for infertility in the U.S.

Standard treatments for breast cancer can impair fertility. It is unknown how many U.S. survivors are at risk for infertility. We estimated the population at risk for infertility secondary to treatment among reproductive-aged breast cancer survivors. We combined data from three sources: the National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR) and Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results cancer registry data on incident breast cancers diagnosed in women aged 15-44 years between 2004 and 2006; treatment data from NPCR's 2004 Breast and Prostate Cancer Data Quality and Patterns of Care (PoC) study; and data on women's intentions to have children from the 2006-2010 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG). In the cancer registry data, an average of 20,308 women with breast cancer aged <45 years were diagnosed annually. Based on estimates from PoC data, almost all of these survivors (97%, 19,416 women) were hormone receptor positive or received chemotherapy and would be at risk for infertility. These women need information about the impact of treatments on fertility. Estimates based on NSFG data suggest approximately half of these survivors (9,569 women) might want children and could benefit from fertility counseling and fertility preservation. Nearly all young breast cancer survivors in the U.S. are at risk for infertility. Physicians should discuss the potential impact of treatment on fertility. A smaller but sizeable number of at-risk survivors may be interested in having children. Given the magnitude of potential infertility and its quality-of-life implications, these survivors should have access to and potential coverage for fertility services.

Chlamydia Screening Coverage Estimates Derived Using Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information System Procedures and Indirect Estimation Vary Substantially

Screening coverage is an important determinant of chlamydial control program success. The aim of this study was to compare chlamydial screening coverage estimates. We compared 9 estimates among women aged 15 to 25 years in Washington State, 2009. Four used Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information System (HEDIS) procedures among Group Health enrollees. Separate HEDIS estimates assessed all enrollees and the subset of women who used services; for each group, separate estimates defined the sexually active population using HEDIS methods or National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) data. Three indirect screening estimates used census and NSFG data to define the population's size and derived the number of tests performed by dividing the number of reported cases by test positivity defined using data from different laboratories, adjusted for repeat testing. A fourth indirect estimate was adjusted for reason for testing. A direct-indirect estimate combined data on the number of tests performed in reporting laboratories and an indirect estimate of tests performed elsewhere. Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information System procedures and NSFG data yielded similar estimates of the percentage of women who were sexually active (60% vs. 61%). Screening coverage estimated by HEDIS was higher among Group Health users (43.6%) than among all enrollees (34.2%). Indirect screening coverage estimates varied from 46.4% to 68.7%. The direct-indirect estimate, which included a direct measure of the number of tests performed to identify 52% of reported cases, was 57.6%. Most sexually active women aged 15 to 25 years in Washington State were screened for chlamydia in 2009. Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information System methods may underestimate screening coverage. Health departments can derive population-based coverage estimates using data from large laboratories.

Reproductive Health and Sexual Violence Among Urban American Indian and Alaska Native Young Women: Select Findings from the National Survey of Family Growth (2002)

Existing data on American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/ANs) has indicated high rates of unintended pregnancy, high-risk sexual behavior, and experiences of sexual violence. This study from the first analysis to examine AI/ANs and the urban AI/AN subgroup in the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) reports new findings of reproductive health and sexual violence among urban AI/AN young women. We examined 2002 NSFG data on urban AI/AN women ages 15-24years for pregnancies/births, unintended pregnancy, sexual initiation and contraceptive use. We also examined non-voluntary first sexual intercourse among urban AI/AN women ages 18-44years. Prevalence estimates and 95% confidence intervals were calculated. Findings include prevalence rates of risk factors among urban AI/AN women ages 15-24years including unprotected first sex (38%), first sex with much older partners (36%), three or more pregnancies (13%) and births (5%) and unintended pregnancies (26%). Seventeen percent of urban AI/ANs ages 18-44years reported experiencing non-voluntary first sex. Sixty-one percent of urban AI/AN women ages 15-24years were not using any method of contraception. Current contraceptive methods among those using a method included: injections/implants (23%), contraceptive pills (32%) and condoms (25%). Findings describe reproductive health risk factors among young urban AI/AN women and highlight the need for enhanced surveillance on these issues. Those working to improve AI/AN health need these data to guide programming and identify resources for implementing and evaluating strategies that address risk factors for this overlooked population.

The quality of male fertility data in major U.S. surveys.

Researchers continue to question fathers' willingness to report their biological children in surveys and the ability of surveys to adequately represent fathers. To address these concerns, this study evaluates the quality of men's fertility data in the 1979 and 1997 cohorts of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79 and NLSY97) and in the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG). Comparing fertility rates in each survey with population rates based on data from Vital Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau, we document how the incomplete reporting of births in different surveys varies according to men's characteristics, including their age, race, marital status, and birth cohort. In addition, we use Monte Carlo simulations based on the NSFG data to demonstrate how birth underreporting biases associations between early parenthood and its antecedents. We find that in the NSFG, roughly four out of five early births were reported; but in the NLSY79 and NLSY97, almost nine-tenths of early births were reported. In all three surveys, incomplete reporting was especially pronounced for nonmarital births. Our results suggest that the quality of male fertility data is strongly linked to survey design and that it has implications for models of early male fertility.

Modeling Repeatable Events Using Discrete-Time Data: Predicting Marital Dissolution

I join two methodologies by illustrating the application of multilevel modeling principles to hazard-rate models with an emphasis on procedures for discrete-time data that contain repeatable events. I demonstrate this application using data taken from the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) to ascertain the relationship between multiple covariates and risk of subsequent marital dissolution. I consider both fixed- and random-effects versions of the multilevel model, as well as a Generalized Estimating Equation alternative to estimating random effects. I compare results obtained from the various estimators, noting why differences occur, and recommend when to choose the various alternatives. I also provide a set of SAS and STATA programs that can be used to analyze the NSFG data.

Patterns of Asexuality in the United States

Abstract In this paper we use data from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) to ascertain and analyze patterns of asexuality in the United States. We endeavor to extend the earlier work of Bogaert (2004) on this topic, which focused on patterns of asexuality in Great Britain. Using a social constructionist perspective to study asexuality, we conceptualize and measure the phenomenon in several ways, according to behavior, desire, and self-identification. We use the NSFG respondent sampling weights to produce several sets of unbiased estimates of the percentages of persons in the U.S. population, aged 15-44, who are asexual; each set is based on or more of the various definitions of asexuality. Finally, we describe some of the characteristics of the asexual population using logistic regression. 1. Introduction In recent years there has been an increase in demographic studies of sexuality. The resulting research has provided insights into broader population patterns of sexual behaviors, desires, and identities, and has emphasized the complexities inherent in the analysis of sexual outcomes. But with very few exceptions, none of the sexuality analyses have focused on asexuality, hence overlooking a sexuality dimension that may well characterize a not insignificant percentage of the population. In this article, we examine data from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) dealing with the prevalence and characteristics of asexual persons. Our research highlights the measurement and interpretation challenges that accompany demographic analyses of sexuality in general, and asexuality in particular. Recent research about sexual behaviors, desires, and identity has found that a small, but notable, number of individuals do not appear to fall clearly into the heterosexual, gay, or bisexual categories in terms of their sexuality. Rather, they report that they are not engaging in sexual activity, that they experience no sexual desire, and/or that they self-identify as asexual (Bogaert 2004; Laumann et al. 1994). Asexuality has gained modest attention in the popular media as a sexual orientation (Sohn 2005; Jay 2005), but little quantitative and generalizable information is available about the prevalence of asexual identity or behavior in human populations or the characteristics associated with asexual persons. In the quantitative study of which we are aware, Bogaert (2004) conducted a study of asexuality using nationally representative data, concluding that around 1.1 percent of the sampled British population provided an asexual response to a survey question on sexual desire. Drawing on 2002 NSFG data, we seek to extend Bogaert's analysis in two ways. First, we explore whether similar patterns of asexuality are exhibited in the U.S. population as in the British population. In addition, and more importantly in terms of broader demographic studies of sexuality, we incorporate multiple dimensions of asexuality, in contrast to the single dimension permitted by Bogaert's data. The limited literature on asexuality presents three kinds of definitions dealing with the phenomenon, namely, definitions based on one's behavior, one's desires, and one's self-identification. Our analysis of asexuality across these three dimensions highlights the manner in which both the prevalence and implications of asexuality vary depending on the dimension employed. Further, our analysis demonstrates some of the challenges faced by demographers using survey data on sexuality, as well as in crafting questions to explore population sexuality. 2. Background There is a limited social science literature on asexuality. This is due in part to the presumed low levels of asexuality in human and nonhuman populations. Asexuality is thought by some to be low because one would expect strong selection pressures against such tendencies (Bogaert 2004: 279). But the fact that a behavior has nonreproductive tendencies does not necessarily mean that it will have a low prevalence. …

The Effect of a First Child on Female Labor Supply

Abstract Estimating the causal effect of a first child on female labor supply is complicated by the endogeneity of fertility. This paper addresses this problem by focusing on a sample of women from the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) who sought help to become pregnant. After a certain period, only some of these women gave birth. Results using this strategy show that having a first child younger than one year old reduces female employment by 26 percentage points. These estimates are close to OLS estimates from census data and to those from OLS and fixed-effects models on NSFG data.

The Effect of a First Child on Female Labor Supply: Evidence from Women Seeking Fertility Services

Estimating the causal effect of a first child on female labor supply is complicated by the endogeneity of fertility. This paper addresses this problem by focusing on a sample of women from the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) who sought help to become pregnant. After a certain period, only some of these women gave birth. Results using this strategy show that having a first child younger than one year old reduces female employment by 26 percentage points. These estimates are close to OLS estimates from census data and to those from OLS and fixed-effects models on NSFG data.

Sexual Risks Are Increased for Women Who Were Ever in Foster or Kinship Care

Women who spent any time living in foster homes or with relatives other than their par? ents during childhood have an elevated risk of engaging in high-risk sexual behaviors, ac? cording to an analysis of data from the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG).1 They are nearly a year younger than other women when they first become pregnant, and they have elevated odds of having more than three sexual partners over their lifetime. Those who lived with relatives also begin having in? tercourse at a younger age than women who always lived with at least one biological par? ent. More than 500,000 children are placed in living arrangements outside their parents' home each year; the analysts note, however, that the extent to which this experience influences their sexual behavior has received lit? tle attention. The nationally representative NSFG data permitted researchers to examine patterns of sexual behavior among three groups of women: 89 who had ever lived in foster care, 513 who had ever lived in kinship care (that is, with relatives other than their parents) and 9,018 who had always lived with at least one parent (the comparison group). Women were excluded if they had never lived with their bi? ological parents, they were foreign-born or they had lived in a group home at any point in their childhood.

Relinquishment of Premarital Births: Evidence from National Survey Data

According to 1982 and 1988 NSFG data, unmarried white women are far less likely than they were in the early 1970s to place their children for adoption. The levels of relinquishment among black women have remained low throughout this period, and relinquishment among Hispanic women may be virtually nonexistent. Multivariate analysis of the determinants of relinquishment among unmarried non-Hispanic white women suggests that having a well-educated mother, being in school at the time of conception, having no labor force experience, and being older are positively associated with placing a child for adoption. Sons were found to be less likely to be relinquished than daughters.

Does Family Interaction Prevent Adolescent Pregnancy?

This study uses data from the 1982 National Survey of Family Growth to ascertain whether family interaction can avert adolescent sexual activity, pregnancy, childbearing and parenthood. The results obtained from using logistic regression procedures indicate that the family may be effective in increasing adolescents' use of contraceptives and selection of abortion or adoption as alternatives to parenthood. Family interaction, however, was not associated with forestalling adolescent sexual activity or with providing for the well-being of the adolescent and her child and it is unlikely that a policy based solely on family interaction will be effective. Characteristics associated with effectiveness in preventing adolescent pregnancy included race, religion, residence, mother's education, the adolescent's age and family income.

The Completion of Childbearing: Change and Variation in Timing

Using data on fertility histories from the 1980 US Current Population Survey which included about 77000 households in a national probability sample the timing of the completion of childbearing (as measured by the age of the mother at her final birth) of successive 20th-Century cohorts of US women (born in 1906-15 1916-25 1926-30 and 1931-35) investigated. Data from the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) were also used to examine the likely age at completion of childbearing for ever-married women who had not passed the reproductive period by the time of the survey. By examining the entire distributions of age at final birth as well as summary measures a substantial cohort change in the timing of the last birth among Whites and Blacks was found that was not evident from the summary measures of central tendency and dispersion. Among Whites the cohort changes consisting of a 50% reduction in the proportion finishing reproduction later than 35 years of age were not simply due to differing completed family size and age at 1st birth. In addition with these other factors controlled in a regression analysis women who experienced marital disruption and remarriage by age 45 took longer to finish their reproduction and more educated women took less time. Such effects were not statistically significant for Blacks who have experienced large reductions in the proportions of women finishing reproduction early (age<25) and late. For younger cohorts with incomplete reproduction the likely age at 1st birth was projected using the NSFG data. For both races the projected mean age was 26.6 for the youngest White cohort and 27.8 and 25.4 for the youngest 2 Black cohorts as opposed to a range from 28.1-28.7 for the oldest cohort.

Sequence of events following adoption of contraception: an exploratory analysis of 1973 fertility history data.

This paper describes and tests a model for constructing data-based estimates of probabilities of pregnancy following initial acceptance of a contraceptive method. The report outlines the basic features of the model, describes the sampling framework of the 1973 U.S. National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) against whose data the model is tested, and explains estimation procedures. The model summarizes the behavior of a cohort of continuously married couples from acceptance of a contraceptive method, including nonuse, pill, other methods, or IUD, until the 1st subsequent pregnancy, marital dissolution, or sterility. Estimated probabilities of these outcomes are presented and compared to 1-step transition probabilities and directly observed NSFG data on pregnancy, marital dissolution, or contraceptive sterilization in order to assess the validity of the model and the biases resulting from its use. The model was found to be more successful for transitions to marital dissolution or contraceptive sterilization than for transitions to pregnancy. Possible reasons for this include small sample size in some categories and inappropriateness of some assumptions underlying the model.