Differences between sexually active female adolescents who use dual protection to prevent pregnancy and STDs verses non-dual users

Background: Despite recommendations for concurrent use of contraceptives and condoms to prevent unintended pregnancy and STDs, dual protection use among young women is poor. To understand why some adolescents elect to use dual protection and others do not, we examined sociodemographic, family, and psychosocial factors that might differentiate sexually active African American female adolescent dual protection users and non-dual users.

Method: Data were collected via ACASI from 701 African American adolescent females (14-20 years) seeking services at reproductive health clinics. Sociodemographic, family, psychosocial, and self-reported behavioral data related to birth control and condom use were collected during baseline assessment, prior to adolescents' randomization and participation in an HIV prevention trial. ANOVA and t-tests were employed to identify differences between dual users and non-users.

Results: 102 participants reported dual protection use during their last sexual episode, 340 reported using one form of protection, and 259 used no protection. Dual protection users, relative to non-dual users, were significantly younger, reported fewer symptoms of depression, communicated more with parents about sex, and had higher partner sexual communication self-efficacy scores.

Conclusions: Findings indicate multiple differences between sexually active African American adolescent female dual protection users and non-dual users. Interventions promoting improved parent-adolescent communication as well as sexual partner communication skills may contribute to adolescents' use of dual protection for STD and pregnancy prevention.