Decades of research have attempted to understand the paradox of stubbornly high unintended pregnancy rates despite widespread use of contraception. Much of this research has focused on socioeconomic disparities in rates of unintended pregnancy, finding that economically disadvantaged women tend to use less effective contraceptive methods and use them less consistently. Building on this research, this study examines how material hardship is associated with less consistent contraceptive use among women who do not desire to become pregnant. Using the Relationship Dynamics and Social Life (RDSL) Study, a weekly longitudinal survey, I find lower levels of contraceptive use and less consistent use of contraception among women experiencing material hardship, relative to those without hardship experiences. I also investigate the extent to which this association is explained by access barriers and lower contraceptive efficacy among women experiencing hardship. Using structural equation modeling, I find that these mediators significantly explain the relationship between hardship and risky contraceptive behaviors, suggesting that hardship creates mental and resource constraints that impede successful implementation of contraception. However, net of these mediators, material hardship remains associated with riskier contraceptive behaviors among young women, calling for further research on how hardship exposes women to greater risk of unintended pregnancies.

中文翻译：

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向成年过渡期间的物质困难和避孕药具的使用


数十年的研究试图理解尽管广泛使用避孕措施但意外怀孕率却居高不下的悖论。这项研究的大部分内容都集中在意外怀孕率方面的社会经济差异，发现经济上处于不利地位的妇女往往使用效果较差的避孕方法，并且使用的一致性较差。在这项研究的基础上，本研究探讨了不想怀孕的女性中物质困难与避孕措施不一致之间的关系。通过关系动态和社会生活（RDSL）研究（一项每周一次的纵向调查），我发现，与那些没有经历过困难的女性相比，经历过物质困难的女性避孕药具的使用水平较低，而且避孕措施的一致性较差。我还调查了这种关联在多大程度上可以用经历困难的妇女的获取障碍和较低的避孕效果来解释。通过结构方程模型，我发现这些中介变量显着解释了困难与危险避孕行为之间的关系，表明困难会造成精神和资源限制，从而阻碍避孕的成功实施。然而，除去这些中介因素，物质困难仍然与年轻女性的高风险避孕行为相关，因此需要进一步研究困难如何使女性面临更大的意外怀孕风险。