Adolescent health briefPatterns and Correlates of Parental and Formal Sexual and Reproductive Health Communication for Adolescent Women in the United States, 2002–2008
Section snippets
Methods
We used data from the National Survey of Family Growth, a nationally representative SRH survey of women and men aged 15–44 years residing in the United States. Data were collected cross-sectionally via household, in-person interviews in 2002 (n = 12,571), and then ongoing from 2006 to 2008 (n = 13,495). The response rate was 79% and 75% in cycles 6 and 7. Restricting the analysis to adolescent women (15–19 years), our final sample included 2,326 adolescents: 1,065 from 2002, and 1,261 from 2006
Results
Receipt of SRH communication is presented in Table 1. Nearly all adolescents received SRH communication (97%). Of the 75% who had received parental communication (75%), information was provided on STIs (53%) and contraception (56%), including contraceptive methods (50%), where to get contraception (38%), and how to use condoms (29%). How to say no to sex (abstinence) was most common (60%), with 9% receiving abstinence-only communication. Between 2002 and 2006–2008, parental communication
Discussion
We cannot discern the tone, quality, quantity, or timing of SRH communication received or the accuracy of information provided by these adolescents, which prohibits in-depth understanding of relationships between adolescents' SRH communication and knowledge and behavior. However, our findings provide insights into the current prevalence, gaps, and disparities in SRH communication in the United States. Increasing parental-provided SRH communication between 2002 and 2006–2008 may reflect
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by a training fellowship from the Center for Health and Wellbeing, Office of Population Research, Princeton University (K.S.H.).
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