Browsing by Subject "Reproductive Health"

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    Contraceptive use among emerging adult college women: results from a national survey
    (2013-08) Morrison, Leslie F.
    With most emerging adults being sexually active; contraceptive use is an important health consideration in this population. Contraceptive use patterns are influenced by complex and competing factors. While much research has focused on the relationships between risk indicators and contraceptive use, less research has focused on protective factors that may be associated with consistent contraceptive use. Emerging adult developmental theory and a positive youth development (PYD) framework may provide a structure for considering the roles of protective factors (i.e., external supports and internal assets) on consistent contraceptive and condom use among college attending emerging adult women. Using secondary data analysis from Wave III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), this study evaluated relationships between external supports (i.e., parental caring and current relationship with caring non-parental adult), and internal assets (i.e., self-esteem, confidence, independence and life satisfaction) and consistent contraceptive and condom use. It also evaluated relationships between risk indicators (i.e., heavy episodic alcohol use, marijuana use and depressive symptoms), and consistent contraceptive and condom use, and interactive effects of protective factors and risk indicators on consistent contraceptive use. Findings indicated that all of the internal assets evaluated in this study (i.e., self-esteem, confidence, independence, life satisfaction) were significantly and positively related to consistent contraceptive use. There were no significant relationships between external supports and consistent contraceptive use. Among risk indicators, marijuana use and depressive symptoms were significantly and negatively related to consistent contraceptive use. Protective factors did not moderate the relationships between risk indicators and consistent contraceptive use. Examining consistent condom use, there were no significant relationships between any protective factors and this study outcome. Of the study's risk indicators, only heavy episodic alcohol use had a significant bivariate relationship with consistent condom use; this relationship became non-significant in a multivariate model that accounted for known correlates of consistent condom use. This study supports the use of strengths based interventions throughout youth, adolescence and emerging adulthood to decrease the risks associated with inconsistent contraceptive use. The need for continued research to better understand the roles of protective factors and risk indicators on consistent contraceptive and condom use are discussed.
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    Under pressure: parity, pandemic, and psychological distress
    (2022-05) Friedman, Jessica
    Motherhood is a gendered social role that uniquely shapes health and opportunity for women. Motherhood may influence women’s risk for depression, and mothers may be particularly vulnerable to disasters such as the COVID-19 pandemic. This dissertation examined depressive symptoms and coping strategies in response to major life events, including parity and parenting during the COVID-19 pandemic. This dissertation leveraged 22 years of data using the combined Project EAT, LEAP, and COVID Current Health Study datasets.Manuscript 1 assessed associations between parity and depressive symptoms by comparing women who became parous at different times to women who remained non-parous at the same time point. Results indicated that women who experienced their first live birth at younger ages experienced more depressive symptoms compared to those who remained non-parous at the same time point and those who had their first child at a later, more normative time point. Manuscript 2 described pandemic-related changes in sleep, alcohol use, and unhealthy weight control behaviors (UWCBs) among mothers, comparing measures in the year prior to the pandemic to those in the first pandemic wave. This manuscript compared the direction and magnitude of pandemic-related changes in these health behaviors based on exposure to childhood maltreatment, to assess the stress sensitization hypothesis (the theory that earlier stressors increase reactivity to later stressors). Results indicated a bimodal distribution of change across all health behaviors. Women who experienced childhood maltreatment reported less frequent and more intense alcohol use and more UWCBs during the pandemic. Manuscript 3 is a mixed-methods study describing changes in psychological distress among mothers during the pandemic in response to different types of environmental stressors (e.g., caregiving pressures, economic concerns, and COVID-19 risk). Results indicated elevated levels of psychological distress across all domains, with qualitative and quantitative data indicating concerns around job security and productivity as the primary drivers of psychological distress.