Patterns of contraceptive use and pregnancy among young Hispanic women on the Texas-Mexico border.

Our objective was to identify significant family planning and health access problems of young Hispanic women on the Texas-Mexico border. Samples of 300 young Hispanic women living in each of the twin cities of El Paso and Juarez were interviewed regarding their knowledge, attitudes, and experiences with respect to birth control, pregnancy, maternal and child health, and health-care services. Knowledge and attitudes of the women about birth control technology were assessed along with their beliefs regarding the use of such technology. Results showed that contraceptive knowledge and usage patterns for young Hispanic women in Juarez and El Paso were significantly different. They relied on different types of birth control methods and also differed with respect to confidence in these methods and related medical services. Both groups reflected positive attitudes toward both child bearing and use of birth control although Juarez women were significantly more favorable toward child bearing. Both groups overwhelmingly favored female doctors. The young women studied have accepted the need for birth control, prefer fewer children, and have some degree of confidence in medical services. Their knowledge and use of reliable versus unreliable birth control devices appear to be major areas requiring culturally sensitive intervention.

PIP: Social work students administered a questionnaire to 600 randomly selected adolescent females from El Paso, Texas, and Juarez, Mexico, to examine their knowledge and use of contraceptive methods and their attitudes about pregnancy, contraception, and child care. 11.7% of the El Paso respondents and 16.7% of the Juarez respondents had been pregnant at some time. Oral contraceptives (OCs) were the most known contraceptive method. Women in El Paso were more likely to be familiar with OCs (98% vs. 91.3%), condoms (93.7% vs. 74.7%), vaginal methods (79.7% vs. 67.8%), and withdrawal (65.3% vs. 44.5%) than were those in Juarez (p = .001). On the other hand, more Juarez women than El Paso women knew about injectables (79.8% vs. 34.1%), sterility or tubal ligation (89.9% vs. 63.3%), vasectomy (73.2% vs. 69%), Billing's method (19.2% vs. 5.3%), and the rhythm method (73.6% vs. 36.4%) (= = .001). Many women from both cities used ineffective methods. Women in Juarez were much more likely to use the rhythm method than those in El Paso (26.4% vs. 3.4%; p = .001). Women from both cities, particularly those in Juarez (p = .001), believed more information on contraception was needed. They felt strongly that men should also be responsible for family planning and approve of women using contraceptives. They believed that couples should have fewer children. Juarez women has a more positive view of pregnancy and childbearing than did El Paso women. El Paso women were more likely to visit a physician in the last year for reasons other than check-ups (mean number of visits, 1.88 vs. 1.25; p = .005). Most women preferred to receive maternal and child health/family planning services from a female physician (56% in Juarez and 64.3% in El Paso). These findings indicated that cultural differences in contraceptive knowledge and usage as well as confidence in various methods and related medical services existed. They emphasized the need for culturally relevant education, research, and service programs concerning adolescents in the Texas-Mexico border region.

The health attitudes of young Hispanic women and the health status of their children on the Texas-Mexico border.

In this paper our objective was to identify child health problems as observed by young Hispanic mothers living along the Texas-Mexico border. Samples of 300 young Hispanic women living in each of the twin cities of El Paso and Juarez were interviewed regarding their knowledge, attitudes, and experiences with respect to birth control, pregnancy, maternal and child health, and health care services. Only 35 women in El Paso and 50 in Juarez were ever pregnant and their attitudes toward health issues were compared to the never pregnant women. Those with living children were also asked about the health problems they had observed in their children. The results indicate that the ever pregnant women were more positive toward both family planning and child bearing than were their never-pregnant peers. The ever-pregnant women were also less confident in family planning techniques. The mothers in Juarez generally reported more observed illness symptoms in their children than did the El Paso mothers.

The mental health status of young Hispanic women residing along the border: a twin cities comparison.

A number of studies report comparisons among ethnic/ racial groups in terms of health attitudes, health practices, and socio-economic and mental health status. Of special concern is the mental health status and coping potential of young women of childbearing age because of the special vulnerability of individuals in this group and the vulnerability of their children. The well-being of future generations is at stake when maladaptive functioning compounded by severe social conditions create a climate for inadequate growth and development for large numbers in a population, even for short periods of time. This paper reports the results of a study examining self concepts and mental health status of two distinct populations within one ethnic group-young Hispanic women living on the U.S. side of the Texas-Mexico border versus a similar sample of young Hispanic women living on the Mexico side. Within each sample, the never-pregnant versus ever-pregnant adolescents were compared. The young women in both groups reported intense feelings related to emotional distress. The young women in Ciudad Juarez reported somewhat more positive feelings related to recent well-being. The El Paso women reported a less traditionally feminine persona (they felt more aggressive, confident, successful, energetic, and successful), yet they experienced less happiness, hopefulness, and life satisfaction. However, neither group could be described as reporting positive mental status and those women who had been pregnant were no different than their never-pregnant counterparts. Rather, the results signal serious problems throughout the two populations. Health care and social service workers must recognize and be prepared to address intense personal distresses in both of these young, Hispanic-female, border populations.