Urban Adolescent Females' Views on the Implant and Contraceptive Decision-Making: A Double Paradox

Abstract

Focus groups and in-depth interviews were used to explore the decline in popularity of the contraceptive implant in a clinic-based sample of 41 ethnically diverse, urban, sexually active adolescents. While these teenagers' socioeconomic status and patterns of inconsistent contraceptive use made them potentially ideal implant recipients, they were unlikely to select this method. Negative media reports about the method were less influential than social conditions such as peer perspectives and gender relations. Oral networks that propagated misinformation went unchallenged because of the silence of satisfied users. Personal factors such as future orientation, autonomous decision-making and value of control also influenced contraceptive decision-making.

Transdermal Contraception as a Model for Adolescent Use of New Methods

“…Similar to the findings of a 1997 study of adolescents using Norplant [9], many of our participants were informed of these issues by relatives. However, in contrast with the Norplant users who reported little direct contact with news media coverage, participants also encountered this information on their own, perhaps reflecting a secular trend of increased media exposure for adolescents.…”

“…Studies of DMPA [4] and Norplant [9] identified personal experiences, method characteristics, and social context (friends' experiences, sexual partnerships) as factors influencing decision-making. Additional studies of adolescents have described numerous sources for contraceptive information, primarily friends [19,20], healthcare providers [10], and family members.…”

“…Studies describing young women using newly introduced methods [8,9] and developing relevant models [10] have placed significant emphasis on method-specific issues [9 -11] rather than placing a primary focus on whether or how the newness of the method influenced decision-making. This work has not included transdermal contraception.…”

Young women’s experiences of side-effects from contraceptive implants: a challenge to bodily control

“…15 Thus, in their contraceptive choices, women combine considerations of bodily concerns (physical functioning and experience) with personal values and beliefs. One personal value often unacknowledged by providers is some women's anxieties about hormonal contraception disrupting their "natural" bodies.…”

The resistance to contraceptive use in young Italian women

“…Knowing the partner well and being able to share responsibilities were strong protective factors 18,19 . An older partner, as other surveys report 20 , should be regarded as a risk factor, because it was easier to trust him, even if he did not consider any contraceptive option.…”