Parents of teenage girls are more inclined to allowing their daughters use birth control pills than condom or any other form of contraception, revealed a study published by University of California San Francisco (UCSF).
The study published in the February issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health examined parental acceptability of different contraceptives and explored factors that influence their attitudes. It found that parents had the highest acceptability for oral birth control pills (59 percent), followed by condoms (51 percent), injectable contraception (46 percent), emergency contraception (45 percent), transdermal patches (42 percent), implants (32 percent), and IUDs (18 percent). They also found that parents who perceived their teens as likely to have sex were more accepting of only condoms and emergency contraception, and not the full array of options. Parents who regularly attended religious services had a lower acceptance of emergency contraception.
Parents’ less favorite contraception method were the implant – a matchstick-sized rod that is inserted in the arm to prevent pregnancy – and the intrauterine device (IUD).
A random sample of 261 parents/guardians with a daughter aged 12 to 17 was recruited from a clinical database from San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center and five Kaiser Northern California clinics where their daughters were patients.
The survey took into account the parents’ perceptions of: their daughters’ likelihood to have sex, their parenting beliefs, their own sexual health as teens, and their knowledge of sexually transmitted infections. The researchers then examined the influence of these factors on the parents’ acceptability of seven contraceptive methods. Parents were asked the question, “If your teen's doctor found out your daughter was having sex, is it acceptable or unacceptable to you for the doctor to provide the following methods to your teen confidentially?”
