Barriers to effective contraception in teenage females

Adolescent females often face barriers in accessing and correctly using pregnancy contraception. For the most part, these barriers are not due to a lack of knowledge or experience with contraception. Reasons for the barriers to contraception may include adolescent attitudes of invulnerability to pregnancy, indifference to the reality of pregnancy and forgetting to use contraceptives consistently (Breheny & Stephens, 2006). Despite a decreasing adolescent birthrate in this country, for the past two decades, the U.S. has led the world in teen pregnancy, birth and abortion rates. In other nations, with similar economies and cultures, the highest adolescent pregnancy rates are half of the American rate (Somers & Fahlman, 2001). The intended research project would be a case study of qualitative nature, and replicate the study done by Breheny & Stephens in 2006. The theoretical framework guiding the study is Icek Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behavior. Approximately 10-15 pregnant adolescents or adolescent mothers would be used for the research. The females would be interviewed individually with semi-structured questions about their perceived barriers to adequate pregnancy prevention. The discussion would focus on pre-pregnancy contraceptive use and current contraceptive use. Questions about pre-pregnancy attitudes towards contraception and ineffective pregnancy prevention methods will be posed.School of NursingThesis (M.S.