Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health
Volume 34, Number 4, July/August 2002

 

Factors Affecting British Teenagers'
Contraceptive Use at First Intercourse:
The Importance of Partner Communication
TABLES

TABLE 1. Percentage distribution of 16-18-year-old students in 13 schools, by selected characteristics, United Kingdom, 1999
Characteristic % (N=963)
Sex
Male 40.2
Female 59.8
Age
16 54.4
17 28.9
18 16.7
Race/ethnicity
White 92.1
Black 3.6
Asian 4.3
Social deprivation level
Low 35.7
Medium 31.0
High 33.3
Ever had sex
Yes 43.7
No 56.2
Total 100.0
Note: Ns are reduced for the following variables because of missing observations: gender (two), ethnicity (19) and social deprivation level (185).

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TABLE 2. Percentage distribution of sexually experienced students, by selected characteristics, according to gender
Characteristic Males Females
(N=178) (N=243)
Age at first sex
<16 46.6 51.4
>=16 53.4 48.6
Duration of relationship before first sex
<1 day 27.3 10.9
2 days-4 weeks 26.8 16.4
5-12 weeks 15.1 21.8
13-26 weeks 18.0 32.8
>=27 weeks 12.8 18.1
Used modern method at first sex
Yes 82.8 88.0
No 17.2 12.0
Discussed contraceptive use before first sex
Not at all 42.3 27.0
Sort of 15.4 14.1
A little 26.9 28.2
A lot 15.4 30.7
Visited service provider
Before first sex 12.0 22.5
After first sex 12.0 51.7
Not at all 76.0 25.8
Total 100.0 100.0
Note: Ns are reduced for the duration of relationship variable by six for males and five for females.

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TABLE 3. Odds ratios from logistic regression analyses predicting the effects of various characteristics on the likelihood of contraceptive use at first intercourse, by gender
Characteristic Odds ratio
Males (N=170)
Age at first sex 1.36†
Discussed contraceptive use before first sex
  Not at all (ref) 1.00
  Sort of 5.65*
  A little 13.80*
  A lot 6.13†
No. of intimate reasons for having sex
  0 (ref) 1.00
  1 6.35*
  2 1.89
Sex positively portrayed by parents 1.16*
Constant 0.06
-2 log likelihood 105.9
df 7
Females (N=235)
Age at first sex 1.76*
Visited service provider
  Before first sex 2.34
  After first sex (ref) 1.00
  Not at all 4.98*
Expected to have sex at the time
  Yes (ref) 1.00
  Sort of 0.16*
  No 0.37*
Discussed contraceptive use before first sex
  Not at all (ref) 1.00
  Sort of 1.88
  A little 6.24**
  A lot 14.96**
Ability to interact with the opposite sex 1.19*
Constant 0.00
-2 log likelihood 118.1
df 9
*p<.05. **p<.01. †p<.10. Note: ref=reference category.

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TABLE 4. Odds ratios from logistic regression analyses predicting the effects of various characteristics on the likelihood of discussing contraceptive use before first intercourse, by gender
Characteristic Odds ratio
Males (N=161)
Social deprivation level
  Low (ref) 1.00
  Medium 0.70
  High 0.12**
  Missing values† 0.37*
Duration of relationship before first sex
  <1 day (ref) 1.00
  2 days-4 weeks 4.09**
  5-12 weeks 8.08**
  13-26 weeks 8.69**
  >=27 weeks 60.99**
  Missing values† 4.14
Parents' openness to discussing sex 1.14**
Constant 1.68
-2 log likelihood 183.7
df 9
Females (N=237)
No. of intimate reasons for having sex
  0 (ref) 1.00
  1 4.16**
  2 8.76**
Parental contact score‡ 1.04**
Constant 1.08
-2 log likelihood 272.9
df 3
*p<.05. **p<.01. †Refers to individuals who did not provide a valid response, who were nonetheless kept in the analysis to maintain the original sample size. ‡Composite score based on measures of parental availability and warmth during primary school years and early adolescence. Note: ref=reference category.

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