Contraceptive practices entail a wide spectrum of concepts, namely, contraceptive methods, the use of contraceptives, the discontinuation of such use, and the non-use of contraceptives or failure to use them. The use of contraceptives and contraceptive services is influenced by a number of factors that either motivate or demotivate women to use contraceptives effectively. The aim of this literature review is to identify and describe factors impacting on the contraceptive practices of women. The discussion includes factors impacting positively or negatively on contraceptive practices in terms of age-related issues, education and status, religion, socio-cultural beliefs, values and norms, knowledge about contraceptives, contraceptive providers and the accessibility of contraceptive services.

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Masters in Psychology in the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2012. / Unwanted pregnancy among young unmarried South African women still remains a challenge. It has been identified that young unmarried women who are living in rural areas are more vulnerable to unwanted pregnancy. Bronfenbrenner.s theory of systems has been used in the study. The participants were sourced from eMbobeni location, a rural area in Bizana in the Eastern Cape Province. The data was collected through focus group interviews and analysed through content analysis. Group interviews were tape recorded and transcribed. Group support was provided for the participants in the focus group. Through the study it has emerged that lack of knowledge about sexuality and the protection of oneself still remains a challenge. Factors contributing towards unwanted pregnancy among young unmarried women were identified as being lack of parental support; lack of knowledge and the stigma towards contraception; pressures from the partner; ignorance, carelessness and restrictions; and shift of responsibility. / National Research Foundation (NRF)

Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, In fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Nursing Education Johannesburg, 2015 / This is an exploratory, descriptive study intending to determine factors that influence the uptake of Reproductive Health Services (RHS) by female students at the university in Johannesburg with a view to improving access and delivery of service in a more efficient manner. Despite the availability of free, accessible and confidential RHS on campus, anecdotal data shows an increased number of students who present with unintended pregnancies and soliciting termination of pregnancy. Through the survey and semi-structured interviews the researcher attempts to determine factors influencing the uptake of campus RHS by female students. The present text seeks to answer the following research questions: What is the socio-demographic profile of actual and potential users of RHS on campus and what factors influence the uptake of RHS on campus? Keywords: Reproductive health, access, utilisation, unwanted pregnancy

I coded a random sample of 266 movies to test whether previous researcher’s assertions that the media legitimizes unwanted courtship persistence (UCP) and minimizes stalking behavior is true. Consistent with their assertions, I found that the media does frequently depict stories of unwanted courtship persistence, and they were portrayed, on average, as acceptable. Although pursuers were generally portrayed positively, pursuers who engaged in UCP were more likely to be portrayed negatively than non-UCP pursuers. However, UCP pursuers were more successful than non-UCP pursuers in winning over their love interest. Using Cupach and Spitzberg’s (2004) Obsessional Relational Intrusion (ORI) scale, I found that pursuers engaged in an average of 7 ORI behaviors throughout their pursuit, and many behaviors were portrayed as acceptable, if not positively. Only harassment, coercion and threat, and aggression and violence were portrayed negatively. Implications are tied into Bushman and Anderson’s (2002) General Aggression Model.

M.A. / This dissertation evaluates the concept of a third alternative surrounding abortion which focuses on making abortion rare by addressing contemporary arguments. This third alternative recognises abortion as morally problematic but contends that it should be both legal and rare. Its aim is to address the overly narrow focus of the usual debate on either just the foetus or just the maternal body. In doing this it evaluates some of the current contemporary arguments surrounding abortion to show how these arguments are simply not enough. This includes questioning the social and political dimensions of the dilemma of abortion, and in particular, questions about the conditions that should be in place that will help make abortion rare. This should show how the current debate has created a clear division which has done very little to help women who are considering an abortion. Therefore the argument of making abortion rare should be supported by both Pro-Life and Pro-Choice arguments because if abortion became rare, it would mean that not only would there be fewer abortions, which is exactly what Pro-Life is arguing for, but it would also mean that women would be given more options, which is what Pro-Choice is arguing for.

ABSTRACT Teenage pregnancy is a health and social problem in Malawi as a result of physical, psychological and socio-economic consequences on the teenage mother, family and the society as a whole. Although studies have been conducted on the prevalence and risk factors that cause teenage pregnancy in Malawi before, detailed reports are scanty, especially for Zomba district. In spite of studies and interventions that have been and are being implemented, the prevalence of unplanned teenage pregnancy in Malawi is still high, suggesting that more efforts are required to achieve effective preventive measures. The aim of this study was to explore risk factors such as cultural issues, non-use of contraceptives, lack of knowledge on sexual and reproductive health, circumstances of first sex, gender power dynamics, sexual and physical violence, age difference between teenage girls and their partners and socio-economic status for unplanned teenage pregnancy in Zomba district of Malawi. A cross-sectional analytic design was used. Five antenatal clinics were selected using a stratified and simple random sampling technique. Data were obtained from 505 participants under the age of 20 years using a questionnaire administered through face-to-face interviews. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse data and comparisons between planned and unplanned teenage pregnancy were conducted using the Chi-squared (P ≤ 0.05) and logistic regression model to predict factors for unplanned pregnancy. Findings reveal that unplanned pregnancy accounted for 76.4% of teenagers attributable to early sex and marriage, low contraceptive use, educational levels and socio-economic status, lack of knowledge of reproductive and sexual health, physical and sexual violence and substance abuse, transactional sex due to poverty, early school dropout, misleading counselling causing a lack of knowledge on sexual and reproductive health and gender inequalities. Recommendations made are aimed at eliminating myths and misconceptions surrounding the use of contraceptives and condoms, empowering teenagers economically and in decision making, promoting career guidance, awareness on human rights, including sexual and reproductive rights and implications of early marriage and training of traditional counsellors. A multisectoral approach, including government, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and communities, is required to implement these recommendations.

Background: This study examined the association between gender-based violence and unintended pregnancy in Zimbabwe. Various studies have identified factors associated with unintended pregnancy but the role of gender-based violence in unintended pregnancy has not been fully investigated. Gender-based violence is identified as a global public health concern and has reproductive health consequences. METHODS: This study used the Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey (ZDHS) of 2005/ 2006 to explore the relationship between gender-based violence and unintended pregnancy. A total of 1 516 women were included in ZDHS. For the purpose of this study only women aged 15-49 who participated in the Domestic Violence Module and who reported to have given birth in the five years before the survey were selected. The outcome variable was pregnancy intent. The predictor variables were physical, emotional and sexual violence. These were recoded into binary variables. The responses for these were “yes” for women who reported that they had experienced a form of violence and “no” for those who had not. Data analysis consisted of three stages; univariate frequency distributions and, bivariate and multivariate analysis using logistic regression. RESULTS: The study found that the experience of gender-based violence was prevalent in Zimbabwe. As 33.25% of women reported having experienced some form of physical violence and 33.71% suffered a form of emotional abuse. In the case of sexual violence, about 15.37% of women reported an experience thereof. Unintended pregnancies were reported by 30.67% respondents. An association between gender-based violence and unintended pregnancy was found to exist. This is evident in both the bivariate and multivariate analyses. Women who have experience gender-based violence are 1.53 times more likely to report unintended pregnancy.

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2000. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains v, 43 p. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 38-40).

This study was designed to explore possible demographic and personality correlates of pregnancy-resolution alternatives. A total of 146 female college students were given the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale, the Intrinsic Extrinsic Religious Orientation Scale, a demographic questionnaire, and a Pregnancy-Resolution Questionnaire. The data were analyzed by means of the chi-square statistic and discriminant analysis.

This dissertation examines associations between unintended pregnancy and future maternal mental health and parenting behaviors. Put simply, I examine whether a mother who self-reports her pregnancy as being unintended at her child’s birth will have longstanding differences in mental health and parenting behaviors as her child ages. Drawing on two separate sources of data, I examine these associations taking into account three different ways of measuring unintended pregnancy. Drawing on the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS), unintended pregnancy is measured as such when mothers report, “yes,” to a question asking them whether they considered an abortion prior to their child’s birth. In many respects, consideration of an abortion is the most definitive measure of unintended pregnancy, since it could result in termination of the pregnancy altogether; yet, it is the least utilized in the research literature. More commonly, researchers adopt measures of unintendedness by asking mothers whether or not their pregnancies were “mistimed” or “unwanted.” Drawing on the Building Strong Families (BSF) Project, unintended pregnancy is measured by two questions regarding whether the mother wanted a child with the biological father and whether the pregnancy came sooner, at about the right time, or later than she wanted (mistimed pregnancy). Appreciating the potential influence that the biological father may have on the experience of an unintended pregnancy and later parenting and mental health, all analytic models are conducted separately by family structure at the child’s birth (single mothers and mothers cohabiting with the child’s biological father). Results across the FFCW and BSF Project show that both considering an abortion and having an unwanted pregnancy were associated with considerable longstanding risk for maternal mental health and parenting behaviors, especially for mothers who report cohabiting with their child’s biological father at baseline. Within both sources of data, unintended pregnancy was associated with increased parenting stress, less engagement in parenting activities, and increased likelihood of spanking for cohabiting mothers. Notably, these identified associations remained relatively unchanged when utilizing propensity score pair matching techniques. Results from moderation analyses with the FFCWS reveal that maternal education moderates the association between considering an abortion and maternal mental health and parenting behaviors. Results from moderation analyses with the BSF Project reveal that assignment to a BSF Program altered associations between unwanted pregnancy and engagement in parenting and spanking behaviors. There was no negative link between cohabiting mother’s unwanted pregnancy and engagement in parenting for those mothers assigned to the BSF program, whereas there was a negative link in the control group. Similarly, if single mothers were assigned to the BSF treatment and reported that their pregnancy was unwanted, they were less likely to spank their three-year-old children. These findings suggest the possibility that an organized program could alter longitudinal associations between unintended pregnancy and parenting behaviors, even if the program is not targeting experiences of unintended pregnancy specifically.