This proposal describes an analysis of data collected between 1982 and 1984 by the Components of Effective Fertility Regulation (CEFR) Study. The CEFR Study was a prospective, longitudinal investigation of factors which are thought to correlate with and potentially predict continuous, effective fertility regulating behavior. The CEFR Study enrolled 1,303 Black, White and Hispanic women, aged 14 to 46, who attended various family planning clinics in the New York metropolitan area. Participants were enrolled if they were starting, restarting or continuing to use either the diaphragm or oral contraceptives. They were subsequently reinterviewed at four month intervals for a total of 16 months regardless of whether or not they switched to other contraceptive methods, discontinued contraceptive use, became sexually inactive, attempted to or became pregnant. Data tapes derived from this study, on deposit with the Data Archive on Adolescent Pregnancy and Pregnancy Prevention, will be used for the proposed analyses. The 1,141 black and white participants originally enrolled in the CEFR Study will comprise the population for analysis. Analysis will be divided into four main projects, each focusing on a particular dependent variable. Project 1 will examine consistency of diaphragm and oral contraceptive use, relating attitudes toward method and toward pregnancy and perceived susceptibility to pregnancy to consistency of use. Contraceptive locus of control, independence from partner, sexual interest and life change events will be evaluated as potential moderators of these relationships. An attempt will be made to derive optimal equations for predicting, a priori, consistency of diaphragm and OCS use. Project 2 will focus on the relationship between knowledge of proper use of the disphragm and correctness of actual use. Perceived susceptibility to pregnancy, attitudes toward the method, contraceptive locus of control, sexual interest, and perception of male partner's contraceptive attitudes will be evaluated as potential moderators of the above relationship. An attempt will be made to derive an optimal equation for predicting, a priori, correctness of diaphragm use. Project 3 will examine the frequency with which various reasons are cited for discontinuing diaphragm and oral contraceptive use, compared for different groups of individuals. The structure (i.e., co-occurrence) of reasons cited for discontinuation will be isolated. Similar analyses will be performed for side effects experienced. Multivariate survival analysis techniques will be employed to identify demographic and psychosocial variables which explain or predict method discontinuation and switching. Project 4 will develop a prediction equation for predicting pregnancy occurrence, utilizing both demographic and psychosocial variables obtained at enrollment. Event history analytic techniques will be employed to explore the relationship of consistency and correctness of contraceptive use to pregnancy outcome.
| Wilson, T E; Jaccard, J; Levinson, R A et al. (1996) Testing for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases: implications for risk behavior in women. Health Psychol 15:252-60 |
