The Role of Pregnancy Concerns in the Relationship between Substance Use and Unprotected Sex among Adolescents

Abstract

Background: Substance use and unprotected sex are prevalent among adolescents. The link between substance use and unprotected sex is well-established. Research has also highlighted how adolescents’ attitudes and risk perceptions regarding unprotected sex, including concerns about pregnancy (“Getting pregnant would force me to grow up too fast”), are associated with unprotected sex and unplanned pregnancy. However, less research has examined the potential relationship between pregnancy concerns and substance use among adolescents. Objectives: The study prospectively examined (1) differences in pregnancy concerns across patterns of substance use and (2) whether pregnancy concerns mediate the relationship between substance use and later unprotected sex among a sample of middle and high school students. Method: 98 adolescents [M(SD) age = 14.28(1.68), 59.4% female, 59.4% black/African American] completed self-report measures of marijuana and alcohol use, pregnancy concerns, and unprotected sex across three time points over 6months (T1–T3). Results: Substance users (alcohol/marijuana) reported fewer pregnancy concerns compared to non-substance users (t = 2.99, p = .04). Pregnancy concerns at T2 mediated the relationship between T1 lifetime substance use and later unprotected sex (T3) (indirect effect: b = 0.10, CI[.01–.41]; direct effect: b = 0.15, p = .32), controlling for gender, age, and race. More frequent substance use (T1) was related to fewer pregnancy concerns at T2 (b = –0.10, p = .04); fewer pregnancy concerns were related to increased likelihood of later unprotected sex (b = –1.02, p = .02). Conclusions: Findings offer new insight into associations between substance use and unprotected sex and suggest that substance use and sexual health interventions should target pregnancy concerns.

Predictors of Unintended Pregnancies among Female Students in Technical Training Institutions in Kenya: A Case Study of Siaya Institute of Technology

“…Similar sentiments were also given byReardon et al, (2004) who in their national longitudinal survey of youths established that substance use was associated with unplanned pregnancy. However, a cross sectional study done among black American adolescents revealed a contrasting ndings and established that substance users (alcohol/marijuana) reported fewer pregnancy compared to non-substance users(Dir et al, 2019). The association of illicit drug use and unintended pregnancies reported in this study was in agreement with earlier reports from other geographical regions(Embersin-Kyprianou et al, 2020; McCarthy et al, 2018; Cheng et al, 2016…”

Management of Complex Co-occurring Psychiatric Disorders and High-Risk Behaviors in Adolescence

“…Approximately 16% of adolescents have ridden in a vehicle with someone who had been drinking, and 13% of U.S. high schoolers reported they had driven while under the influence of cannabis over the past month (15). Adolescents who use substances are also more likely to engage in unprotected sex (16), and among the 28.8% of adolescents who report being currently sexually active, more than half were under the influence of alcohol or other substances before they last engaged in sexual intercourse (15).…”