Volume 31 - Article 40 | Pages 1229–1242  

Pregnancy scares and subsequent unintended pregnancy

By Heather Gatny, Yasamin Kusunoki, Jennifer Barber

Abstract

Background: A substantial number of young women experience pregnancy scares - thinking they might be pregnant, and later discovering that they are not. Although pregnancy scares are distressing events, little is known about who experiences them and whether they are important to our understanding of unintended pregnancy.

Objective: We describe the young women who experience pregnancy scares, and examine the link between pregnancy scares and subsequent unintended pregnancy.

Methods: We used data from the Relationship Dynamics and Social Life Study. T-tests and regression analyses were conducted using baseline and weekly data to estimate relationships between respondent characteristics and subsequent pregnancy scares. Event history methods were used to assess pregnancy scares as a predictor of unintended pregnancy.

Results: Nine percent of the young women experienced a pregnancy scare during the study. African-American race, lack of two-parent family structure, lower GPA, cohabitation, and sex without birth control prior to the study are associated with experiencing a pregnancy scare and with experiencing a greater number of pregnancy scares. Further, experiencing a pregnancy scare is strongly associated with subsequent unintended pregnancy, independent of background factors. Forty percent of the women who experienced a pregnancy scare subsequently had an unintended pregnancy during the study period, relative to only 11% of those who did not experience a pregnancy scare.

Conclusions: Young women from less advantaged backgrounds are more likely to experience a pregnancy scare, and pregnancy scares are often followed by an unintended pregnancy.

Author's Affiliation

• Heather Gatny - University of Michigan, United States of America EMAIL
• Yasamin Kusunoki - University of Michigan, United States of America EMAIL
• Jennifer Barber - University of Michigan, United States of America EMAIL

Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research

The social context of retrospective-prospective changes in pregnancy desire during the transition to adulthood: The role of fathers and intimate relationships
Volume 44 - Article 38

Young women's joint relationship, sex, and contraceptive trajectories: Evidence from the United States
Volume 42 - Article 34

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