Late, But Not Too Late? Postponement of First Birth Among Highly Educated US Women.

We examine the link between the postponement of parenthood and fertility outcomes among highly educated women in the USA born in 1920-1986, using data from the CPS June Supplement 1979-2016. We argue that the postponement-low fertility nexus noted in demographic and biomedical research is especially relevant for women who pursue postgraduate education because of the potential overlap of education completion, early career stages, and family formation. The results show that women with postgraduate education differ from women with college education in terms of the timing of the first birth, childlessness, and completed fertility. While the postponement trend, which began with the cohorts born in the 1940s, has continued among highly educated women in the USA, its associations with childlessness and completed parity have changed considerably over subsequent cohorts. We delineate five distinct postponement phases over the 80-year observation window, consistent with variation over time in the prevalence of strategies for combining tertiary education and employment with family formation.

Ambivalence and pregnancy: adolescents' attitudes, contraceptive use and pregnancy.

CONTEXT: It is often argued that adolescents who become pregnant do not sufficiently appreciate the negative consequences, and that prevention programs should target participants' attitudes toward pregnancy. METHODS: Data from the first two waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health were used to examine whether 15-19-year-old females' attitudes toward pregnancy influence their contraceptive consistency and their risk of pregnancy. Characteristics and attitudes associated with pregnancy and contraceptive use were assessed using bivariate and multivariate analysis. RESULTS: Twenty percent of female adolescents were defined as having antipregnancy attitudes, 8% as having propregnancy attitudes and 14% as being ambivalent toward pregnancy; the remainder were considered to have mainstream attitudes. Among sexually experienced adolescents, having an attitude toward pregnancy was not associated with risk of pregnancy. However, those who were ambivalent about pregnancy had reduced odds of using contraceptives consistently and inconsistently rather than not practicing contraception at all (odds ratios, 0.5 and 0.4, respectively). Antipregnancy respondents did not differ from proprepregancy respondents in terms of their contraceptive consistency. However, having a positive attitude toward contraception was associated with increased likelihood of inconsistent and consistent contraceptive use compared with nonuse (1.6 and 2.1, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Programs designed to prevent pregnancy need to give young women information about pregnancy and opportunities to discuss the topic so that they form opinions. Furthermore, programs should emphasize positive attitudes toward contraception, because effective contraceptive use is shaped by such attitudes and is strongly associated with reduction of pregnancy risk.

Criminal-justice and school sanctions against nonheterosexual youth: a national longitudinal study.

OBJECTIVE: Nonheterosexual adolescents are vulnerable to health risks including addiction, bullying, and familial abuse. We examined whether they also suffer disproportionate school and criminal-justice sanctions. METHODS: The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health followed a nationally representative sample of adolescents who were in grades 7 through 12 in 1994-1995. Data from the 1994-1995 survey and the 2001-2002 follow-up were analyzed. Three measures were used to assess nonheterosexuality: same-sex attraction, same-sex romantic relationships, and lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) self-identification. Six outcomes were assessed: school expulsion; police stops; juvenile arrest; juvenile conviction; adult arrest; and adult conviction. Multivariate analyses controlled for adolescents' sociodemographics and behaviors, including illegal conduct. RESULTS: Nonheterosexuality consistently predicted a higher risk for sanctions. For example, in multivariate analyses, nonheterosexual adolescents had greater odds of being stopped by the police (odds ratio: 1.38 [P < .0001] for same-sex attraction and 1.53 [P < .0001] for LGB self-identification). Similar trends were observed for school expulsion, juvenile arrest and conviction, and adult conviction. Nonheterosexual girls were at particularly high risk. CONCLUSIONS: Nonheterosexual youth suffer disproportionate educational and criminal-justice punishments that are not explained by greater engagement in illegal or transgressive behaviors. Understanding and addressing these disparities might reduce school expulsions, arrests, and incarceration and their dire social and health consequences.

After the promise: the STD consequences of adolescent virginity pledges.

PURPOSE: To examine the effectiveness of virginity pledges in reducing STD infection rates among young adults (ages 18-24). METHODS: Data are drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a nationally representative study of students enrolled in grades 7-12 in 1995. During a follow-up survey in 2001-2002, respondents provided urine samples, which were tested for Human Papilloma Virus, Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, and Trichomoniasis. We report descriptive results for the relationship of pledge status and sexually transmitted disease (STD) rates as well as health behaviors commonly associated with STD infection. RESULTS: Pledgers are consistently less likely to be exposed to risk factors across a wide range of indicators, but their STD infection rate does not differ from nonpledgers. Possible explanations are that pledgers are less likely than others to use condoms at sexual debut and to be tested and diagnosed with STDs. CONCLUSIONS: Adopting virginity pledges as intervention may not be the optimal approach to preventing STD acquisition among young adults.