The Association between Parent-Child Closeness and Birth Control Use during Adolescents’ Most Recent Experience of Sexual Intercourse

by

Faculty Sponsor: Professor Robert Kabacoff

Live Poster Session: Zoom Link

Image of Alexandra Segal.
Alexandra Segal

I’m a senior anthropology major from Los Angeles. I am also a coordinator for the Adolescent Sexual Health Awareness (ASHA) club at Wesleyan and am passionate about sex education at both a high school and college level. My research in this course focuses on how adolescent-parent relationships impact birth control use among adolescents.

Abstract: My project investigates the association between parent-child closeness and birth control use for adolescents during their most recent sexual intercourse. I am using data from Wave I of the U.S. National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health (ADD Health) in order to assess this question. I also examine covariates such as biological sex and parental approval of sexual intercourse. The results of my analysis indicate that there is a significant association between parent-child closeness and birth control use for adolescents during their most recent sexual intercourse; further research is needed to identify significant covariates (moderators or confounders).

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