Contraception Health Article

Parental concerns

Nearly 60 percent of sexually active girls under age 18 would discontinue at least some reproductive health services if their parents were informed that they were seeking contraceptive services, according to a study published in the August 14, 2002 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). If parental notification would cause the majority of minor girls to stop seeking reproductive health services or to use less effective methods of contraception, the rates of teen pregnancies and STD infections would substantially increase, Carol Ford of the Adolescent Medicine Program at the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill and Abigail English of the Center for Adolescent Health & the Law state in an accompanying JAMA editorial. Although there is widespread consensus that communication between adolescents and their parents about sexual decision-making is important, there is no reason that confidential reproductive health care and efforts to improve communication between parents and their adolescent children cannot occur simultaneously, these authors suggest.

Parents of adolescents often are concerned that distribution of contraceptives leads to increased sexual activity. However, a study of 4,100 high school students published in the June 2003 issue of the American Journal of Public Health found that students who had access at school to condoms and instructions on their proper use were no more likely to have sexual intercourse than students at schools without condom distribution programs.

See also Condom.

BOOKS

Birth Control Pills: A Medical Dictionary, Bibliography, and Annotated Research Guide to Internet References. San Diego, CA: Icon Health Publications, 2003.

Peacock, Judith. Birth Control and Protection: Choices for Teens. Santa Rosa, CA: LifeMatters, 2000.

Whitney, Leon Fradley. Birth Control Today: A Practical Approach to Intelligent Family Planning. Temecula, CA: Textbook Publishers, 2003.

PERIODICALS

"Give Teens More Info to Bridge Information Gap." Contraceptive Technology Update 25(September 2004): 106–07.

Sullivan, Michele G. "Teens View Hormonal Contraception as Unsafe." Internal Medicine News 37 (July 15, 2004): 24.

"Teens Face Obstacles When Obtaining EC (Emergency Contraceptives)." Contraceptive Technology Update 25 (April 2004): 41–2.

Tucker, Miriam E. "Newer Contraceptives Give Teens More Options." OB GYN News 38 (August 1, 2003): 9.

ORGANIZATIONS

Advocates for Youth. 2000 M St. NW, Suite 750, Washington, DC 20036. Web site <www.advocatesforyouth.org>.

Planned Parenthood Federation of America Inc. 434 W. 33rd St., New York, NY 10001. Web site: <www.plannedparenthood.org>.

WEB SITES

"Teens and Condoms." Avert.org, August 13, 2004. Available online at <www.avert.org/teencondoms.htm> (accessed November 23, 2004).

Amy B. Tuteur Ken R. Wells