Limiting teenagers' access to contraceptive services and information fail to reduce sexual activity and increase the risk of unintended pregnancy and STDs, according to two new studies. Click here for an overview.

Most Teens Tell Parents About Birth Control Use, But One in Five Would Have Sex Without Contraceptives If Notice Were Mandatory click here for the news release

"Adolescents’ Reports of Parental Knowledge of Adolescents' Use of Sexual Health Services and Their Reactions to Mandated Parental Notification for Contraception," by Rachel K. Jones et al., is published in the January 19 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

Teens With Positive Attitudes Toward Contraception More Likely To Use It: Scare Tactics and Negative Sex Ed Messages Less Effective at Reducing Unplanned Pregnancy Than Positive Focus on Contraception click here for the news release

Click here for the full article, "Ambivalence and Pregnancy: Adolescents’ Attitudes, Contraceptive Use and Pregnancy," by Hannah Brückner et al.

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New Insights Into Teens' Risk of Pregnancy, Sexually Transmitted Disease Now Available: National Survey Findings Could Inform Prevention and Health Promotion Efforts

The current issue of Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health contains seven analyses based on data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), a nationally representative study of teens and young adults in the United States click here for the table of contents.

For state and national data on teen pregnancy in the United States, click here

For more information about teens and sexually transmitted disease, click here

For state policies on minors' access to health care, sex education and more, click here