Teenage Contraceptive Use on the Decline

Teenagers are trouble…at least that’s what my father always said to me as I asked for the umpteenth time to borrow the keys to the car that I had already scraped, bottomed out and rear-ended somebody with in the previous year. As a mother to two small ones, I can tell you, whenever they fight with each other and start to scream and whine, I just mentally tell myself, “At least they are not teenagers yet.” In case parents of teenagers wanted something additional to worry about, in a recent troubling study, teenagers have shown to be slipping in their use of contraception…a trend that could lead to higher instances of sexually transmitted diseases as well as unwanted pregnancies.

Results from a new study are showing that between the years 2003 and 2007, the use of contraceptives like condoms showed a decline in some groups of teenagers. Throughout the 1990s and into the new century, there was much headway made to improve the use of contraceptives amongst teenagers in order to reduce the growing number of teenage pregnancies. In fact, between the years 1991 and 2003, the use of condoms by teenagers engaged in sexual activities showed a steady increase and a noted decrease in terms of unwanted pregnancies. However, this new study shows that after 2003, there was an unexpected decline in contraceptive use.

John Santelli, a professor at Columbia University and the chair of their Heilbrunn Departmetn of Population and Family Health, joined forces with researchers from the Guttmacher Institute for this study. These researchers utilized the date retrieved from the participants of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey. All participants were females who were currently in high school (in grades 9th through 12th). Three variables were researched including the contraceptive utilized, the effectiveness of their chosen contraceptive in preventing an unintended pregnancy and their sexual activity. Within the time frame of 2003 and 2007, there was no significant change in terms of sexual activity with these teengagers; however, a reduction in the use of contraceptives was noted.

Dr. Santelli states, “After major improvements in teen contraceptive use in the 1990s and early 2000s, which led to significant declines in teen pregnancy, it is disheartening to see a reversal of such a positive trend. Teens are still having sex, but it appears many are not taking the necessary steps to protect themselves from unwanted pregnancy or sexually transmitted infections.” Those involved with this study speculate what may have caused this decline. One theory is that HIV prevention programs amongst this age group have not been as strong as they could be; another theory is the push towards abstinence-only sex education stemming from policies in the last administration. This type of sex education does not touch on subjects of contraception. Researchers in this study highly recommend efforts to push for the use of contraceptives in this age level at the national and state levels. They also feel that sex education should not discuss only abstinence but truthful information about contraceptive use, as well.