Date of Conferral

2020

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Public Health

Advisor

Jennifer Oliphant

Abstract

Unintended pregnancy is associated with adverse social, economic, and health outcomes making it a public health concern. African American (AA) women aged 18–24 are at higher risk of unintended pregnancy due to earlier sexual initiation and non-use, inconsistent, or improper use of contraceptive methods (CM). The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which receipt of formal sexual health education (FSHE) impacts age of sexual initiation and contraceptive use and selection of more effective CMs (ECMs) among AA women aged 18–24 (N = 242) who have sex with men. Driven by the reasoned action approach, 2015–2017 National Survey of Family Growth data were used. Logistic regression and multinomial logistic regression were used to determine associations between these variables. Results did not show any statistically significant associations between the variables. Although the odds were not significant, the results indicated that receipt of abstinence-plus sexual health education (APSHE) and comprehensive sexual health education (CSHE) raised the age of sexual initiation, and CSHE increased odds of contraceptive use at sexual initiation. The odds of selecting a moderately (MECM) to highly (HECM) ECMs at initiation did not increase with receipt of CSHE. The receipt of APSHE nor CSHE increased the odds of selecting a MECM or HECM as the primary CM during the 12 months before the survey. These findings emphasize the importance of FSHE and highlight gaps in the use of ECMs. The provision of culturally responsive FSHE may lead to increased and consistent ECM use among AA young women reducing adverse public health outcomes associated with early sexual initiation and unintended pregnancy, positively impacting positive social change.

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