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Using panel data to examine pregnancy attitudes over time

Using panel data to examine pregnancy attitudes over time
Using panel data to examine pregnancy attitudes over time
There is a lack of research examining changes in women’s fertility attitudes over relatively short periods of time. The aim of this study was to determine whether and how women’s attempts to get pregnant and their desire to avoid pregnancy changed over six months’ time as well as which characteristics and circumstances were associated with these changes. Using multinomial regression, we analyzed two panels of data from a sample of approximately 3,000 U.S. adult women gathered within six months apart. Only 4% of the women were trying to get pregnant at both time points, but six percent went from trying to not or vice versa. Two-thirds reported a strong desire to avoid pregnancy at both points, but 9% transitioned from strong to not strong and an additional 7% transitioned from not strong to strong. Women who transitioned to a more serious romantic relationship were at increased risk of transitioning to trying to become pregnant and, not surprisingly, to a weaker pregnancy avoidance. Some of the variables we tested, including changes in employment status and race/ethnicity, were associated with one outcome but not the other. The results highlight the importance of taking a holistic perspective of women’s lives when studying pregnancy intentions and in reproductive health care services such as contraceptive counseling. Context matters and it may change rapidly.
fertility intentions, pregnancy avoidance, pregnancy planning, panel data
2424-8150
109-121
Vaisanen, Heini
ee5b9497-7825-4fd8-8b7e-3d5d2b164766
Jones, Rachel K.
afce22cc-62f3-4247-91fc-cbd7bdf2c9e7
Vaisanen, Heini
ee5b9497-7825-4fd8-8b7e-3d5d2b164766
Jones, Rachel K.
afce22cc-62f3-4247-91fc-cbd7bdf2c9e7

Vaisanen, Heini and Jones, Rachel K. (2015) Using panel data to examine pregnancy attitudes over time. International Journal of Population Studies, 1 (1), 109-121. (doi:10.18063/IJPS.2015.01.007).

Record type: Article

Abstract

There is a lack of research examining changes in women’s fertility attitudes over relatively short periods of time. The aim of this study was to determine whether and how women’s attempts to get pregnant and their desire to avoid pregnancy changed over six months’ time as well as which characteristics and circumstances were associated with these changes. Using multinomial regression, we analyzed two panels of data from a sample of approximately 3,000 U.S. adult women gathered within six months apart. Only 4% of the women were trying to get pregnant at both time points, but six percent went from trying to not or vice versa. Two-thirds reported a strong desire to avoid pregnancy at both points, but 9% transitioned from strong to not strong and an additional 7% transitioned from not strong to strong. Women who transitioned to a more serious romantic relationship were at increased risk of transitioning to trying to become pregnant and, not surprisingly, to a weaker pregnancy avoidance. Some of the variables we tested, including changes in employment status and race/ethnicity, were associated with one outcome but not the other. The results highlight the importance of taking a holistic perspective of women’s lives when studying pregnancy intentions and in reproductive health care services such as contraceptive counseling. Context matters and it may change rapidly.

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 7 November 2015
Published date: 31 December 2015
Keywords: fertility intentions, pregnancy avoidance, pregnancy planning, panel data
Organisations: Social Statistics & Demography

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 387270
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/387270
ISSN: 2424-8150
PURE UUID: 1bf9bd6a-cc34-4e71-b447-34cd2fea56d4
ORCID for Heini Vaisanen: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-5494-0415

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Date deposited: 17 Feb 2016 09:44
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:53

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Contributors

Author: Heini Vaisanen ORCID iD
Author: Rachel K. Jones

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