Prebirth psychosocial factors as predictors of consistency in contraceptive use among Taiwanese adolescent mothers at 6 months postpartum.

OBJECTIVE

To assess contraceptive behavior and whether pre-birth psychosocial factors could predict consistency in contraceptive use among adolescent mothers at six-month postpartum.

DESIGN

Prospective study.

SAMPLE

104 Taiwanese adolescent mothers.

MEASUREMENTS

Participants completed a contraception questionnaire in their third trimester and a postpartum contraception questionnaire at six-month postpartum.

RESULTS

Prior to giving birth, the adolescent mothers most commonly answered that condom use (39.8%) was the contraceptive method they planned to use after delivery. It was also more commonly reported in the postpartum to be the method they actually were using (54.3%). Stepwise logistic regression analysis further showed that a more positive contraceptive attitude (odds ratio=1.104) and a higher self-efficacy (odds ratio=1.068) in contraceptive use in the pre-birth period increased the probability that a participant would report that she always used contraceptives in the postpartum period. Nevertheless, a higher score in the pre-birth period in the area of subjective contraceptive norms (odds ratio=0.978) decreased this probability. The final regression model could correctly classify 81.7% of the participants.

CONCLUSIONS

Health care professionals should provide adolescent mothers with the information they need to improve their attitude and self-efficacy toward contraception before they enter the postpartum period.