The relationship context of nonmarital childbearing in the U.S.

Using Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort data, we present estimates of nonmarital births in the United States in 2001, both within and outside of cohabiting unions. We additionally examine how mother and father characteristics are associated with the relationship context at birth, and assess racial/ethnic differences in these relationships. We find that 52% of nonmarital births (and 19% of all births) occur within cohabitating unions-a substantial increase in cohabiting births since the early 1990s. The increase in cohabiting births among white and Hispanic women largely reflects a shift from marital to cohabiting births, while the increase in cohabiting births among black women largely reflects a shift from single to cohabiting births. Mother and father characteristics, including marital and fertility histories, are associated with relationship status at birth. However, with the exception of mother's education, only the association between father characteristics and relationship status at birth vary by race and ethnicity.

Older sexual partners during adolescence: links to reproductive health outcomes in young adulthood.

CONTEXT: Sex at a young age with an older partner has been linked to poor reproductive health outcomes during adolescence, but minimal research has examined the influence of teenagers' having an older sexual partner on reproductive health outcomes during the transition to young adulthood. METHODS: Logistic regression and contrast analyses of three waves of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health were used to examine whether individuals who had had sex before age 16 with a partner at least three years their senior were at increased risk of becoming teenage or unmarried parents or of contracting an STD by young adulthood. RESULTS: Ten percent of females and 2% of males had had early sex with an older partner. These females were more likely to acquire an STD as young adults than were those whose riskiest relationship was before age 16 with a similar-aged partner (odds ratio, 2.1) or at age 16 or later with a similar-aged or older partner (2.4 and 2.6, respectively). For males, having sex before 16, regardless of partner age, was associated with an elevated STD risk (odds ratio, 1.9), although controlling for relationship history characteristics attenuated the association. CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents, particularly young adolescents, should be made aware of the potential risks associated with having older sexual partners. In particular, program providers should be alerted that females who engage in early sexual activity with older partners are at especially high risk of experiencing adverse reproductive health consequences.

Adolescents' discussions about contraception or STDs with partners before first sex.

CONTEXT: Limited research has examined the individual, family and relationship factors that determine whether teenagers discuss contraception or STDs with their sexual partners before having sex for the first time. METHODS: Logistic regression analyses of data from 1,426 teenagers who participated in Waves 1 (1995) and 2 (1996) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health and who had first sex between waves examined factors influencing whether respondents discussed contraception or STDs with their partner before first sex, and whether these factors differ by gender. RESULTS: Fifty-three percent of females and 45% of males discussed contraception or STDs before having first sex. The greater respondents' perceived condom knowledge and the greater their communication with their parents about everyday life, the higher their odds of discussing contraception or STDs before first sex (odds ratio, 1.2 for each). Being black was positively associated with sexual communication before first sex (1.9); as the number of dating activities and score on a test of verbal ability increased, so did the odds of such communication (1.6 and 1.02, respectively). The predictors of discussions about contraception or STDs did not differ by gender. CONCLUSIONS: By increasing teenagers' knowledge about condoms and other methods of contraception, pregnancy and STD prevention programs can help to encourage communication among teenage partners before the initiation of sexual intercourse. Programs should also encourage conversations between parents and teenagers, even when not about sex.

Patterns of contraceptive use within teenagers' first sexual relationships.

CONTEXT: Teenagers have a high unintended pregnancy rate, in part because of inconsistent use or nonuse of contraceptives. It is important to determine how partner and relationship characteristics are related to contraceptive use and consistency within adolescents' first sexual relationships. METHODS: Logistic and multinomial logistic regression analyses of data from 1,027 participants in the first two waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health examined the influence of relationship and partner characteristics on ever-use and consistent use of contraceptive methods during teenagers' first sexual relationships. RESULTS: Teenagers who had waited a longer time between the start of a relationship and first sex with that partner, discussed contraception before first having sex or used dual contraceptive methods had significantly increased odds of ever or always using contraceptives. Adolescents who had taken a virginity pledge, had an older partner, had a greater number of close friends who knew their first partner, or reported having a relationship that was not romantic but that involved holding hands, kissing and telling their partners they liked or loved them had decreased odds of contraceptive use or consistency. As relationship length increased, teenagers were more likely to ever have used a method, but less likely to always have used a method. CONCLUSIONS: Parents and programs should encourage teenagers to delay sexual intercourse, discuss contraception with partners before initiating sex and be vigilant about contraceptive use, particularly in long-term sexual relationships and in relationships with older partners.

Contraceptive use and consistency in U.S. teenagers' most recent sexual relationships.

CONTEXT: Most U.S. teenage pregnancies are unintended, partly because of inconsistent or no use of contraceptives. Understanding the factors associated with contraceptive use in teenagers' most recent relationships can help identify strategies to prevent unintended pregnancy. METHODS: Data on 1,468 participants in Waves 1 and 2 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health who had had two or more sexual relationships were analyzed to assess factors associated with contraceptive use patterns in teenagers' most recent sexual relationship. Odds ratios were generated through logistic regression. RESULTS: Many relationship and partner characteristics were significant for females but nonsignificant for males. For example, females' odds of ever, rather than never, having used contraception in their most recent relationship increased with the duration of the relationship (odds ratio, 1.1); their odds were reduced if they had not known their partner before dating him (0.2). The odds of consistent use (vs. inconsistent or no use) were higher for females in a "liked" relationship than for those in a romantic relationship (2.6), and for females using a hormonal method instead of condoms (4.5). Females' odds of consistent use decreased if the relationship involved physical violence (0.5). Among teenagers in romantic or "liked" relationships, the odds of ever-use and of consistent use were elevated among females who had discussed contraception with the partner before their first sex together (2.9 and 2.1, respectively), and the odds increased among males as the number of presexual couple-like activities increased (1.2 for each). CONCLUSIONS: Teenagers must use contraception consistently over time and across relationships despite pressure not to. Therefore, they must learn to negotiate sexual and contraceptive decisions in each relationship.

Unintended births: patterns by race and ethnicity and relationship type.

CONTEXT: Childbearing intentions vary by race and ethnicity and by relationship type. However, few studies have examined whether they differ by race and ethnicity within relationship type. METHODS: Data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study were used to examine the childbearing intentions of 9,100 mothers of a cohort of children born in 2001. Multivariate and multinomial regression analyses were conducted to examine whether relationship type (married, cohabiting or neither) helps explain racial and ethnic differences in childbearing intentions and whether associations between race and ethnicity and childbearing intentions vary by relationship type. RESULTS: Blacks were more likely than whites to have had an unintended birth (odds ratio, 2.5); the relationship held among married (2.6), but not unmarried, mothers. For most relationship types, black mothers had higher relative risks than whites of having had an unwanted birth, rather than an intended or a mistimed one. Asian married mothers were more likely than their white counterparts to have had an unwanted, rather than intended, birth (1.9). The odds of an unintended birth were lower among foreign-born Hispanic cohabiting women than among white cohabiting women (0.6), a finding driven by the lower risk of unwanted than of other births among foreign-born Hispanics (0.3­0.5). Few differences were apparent between native-born Hispanics and white mothers. CONCLUSIONS: Racial and ethnic differences in childbearing intentions are frequently contingent on relationship context. Differences between whites and blacks are largely attributable to married women. Assessment of childbearing intendedness among Hispanics should take nativity into account.

Family Structure History: Links to Relationship Formation Behaviors in Young Adulthood.

Using data from three waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N=4,538), we examine the intergenerational link between parental family structure history and relationship formation in young adulthood. We investigate: (a) first, whether parental family structure history is associated with young adults' own relationship formation behaviors; (b) second, which dimensions of family structure history are most predictive of children's later relationship formation behaviors; and (c) third, if the association between family structure history and young adulthood relationship formation differs by gender. Our findings provide evidence of an intergenerational link between parent relationship histories and their offspring's own relationship formation behaviors in young adulthood, over and above confounding factors.

Contraceptive use patterns across teens' sexual relationships: the role of relationships, partners, and sexual histories.

By using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we examine how adolescent relationship characteristics, partner attributes, and sexual relationship histories are associated with contraceptive use and consistency, incorporating random effects to control for respondent-level unobserved heterogeneity. Analyses show that teens' contraceptive use patterns vary across relationships. Teens with more-homogamous partners, with more-intimate relationships, and who communicate about contraception before sex have greater odds of contraceptive use and/or consistency. Teens in romantic relationships, and who are older when engaging in sex for the first time, have greater odds of ever using contraceptives but reduced odds of always using contraceptives. Teens continue habits from previous relationships: teens with experience practicing contraceptive consistency and females who previously have used hormonal contraceptive methods are better able to maintain consistency in subsequent relationships. Also, relationship and partner characteristics are less important for females who previously used hormonal methods.

Risk and protective factors associated with the transition to a first sexual relationship with an older partner.

PURPOSE: To examine whether family, individual, peer and school characteristics are associated with the transition to a first sexual experience with a partner who is three or more years older. METHODS: Using multinomial logistic regressions, we analyzed a sample of female teens from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to assess risk and protective factors associated with having a first sexual experience with a partner three or more years older, compared with a similar-aged partner and compared with not engaging in sexual intercourse. RESULTS: Younger and foreign-born teens, with lower parent education, with older friendship networks, and attending a school that spans multiple grades, had greater odds of having a first sexual experience with an older partner than with a similar-aged partner. Hispanics and premenarche females had lower odds of having an older sexual partner than of abstaining from sexual intercourse. In contrast, older age, lower parent education, nonintact family structure, less connection to and more communication with parents, substance use or having peers who used substances, and having older peers were associated with increased odds of having sex with an older partner, compared with not engaging in sexual intercourse. CONCLUSION: The findings underscore the importance of educating teens about the risks associated with dating and sexual relationships with older partners, and of educating parents to be especially attentive to the age composition of their teens' circle of friends. Our research has implications for families and program providers, by identifying target risk groups in need of potential prevention efforts.