Over the past decade, our team has worked with families to develop interventions to improve how parents communicate with adolescents about sexual health issues. In recent years, parents have increasingly asked that content be delivered online. Parents report that as families’ schedules have become busier, it is difficult to attend in-person programs. Parents want a ...Read more >

There is longstanding recognition of the limitations of current approaches to conceptualizing and measuring pregnancy intentions. Foundationally, the concept of planning a pregnancy may not be relevant to many women, including women of color, poor women, and young women – the groups considered at greatest risk of unintended pregnancy. Our qualitative research has revealed that ...Read more >

Background: Laws mandating parental consent or notification for minors seeking abortion currently affect girls in 38 states. Over the last three years, legislators proposed over 90 measures to introduce new or strengthen existing laws in 27 states. Despite their prevalence, parental involvement laws’ effects on girls’ access to and experience of abortion remain poorly described, ...Read more >

Depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) is a progestin-only, hormonal contraceptive that is extremely effective, obviates the need for daily or weekly compliance, and can be used privately. DMPA is very appealing for the adolescent contraceptive user. Despite its many advantages, DMPA continuation rates are low in adolescents. Side effects, namely weight gain and bone mineral density ...Read more >

Background: While prior research has shown that psychological health prior to an abortion is a strong predictor of post-abortion mental health and coping, research understanding the role of psychological health in other important post-abortion outcomes, such as contraceptive decision-making is lacking. Objective: The goal of this research is to examine how women’s levels of depression, ...Read more >

This project will assess the unmet demand for female sterilization in a sample of Mexican origin oral contraceptive users, as well the factors underlying that demand and the availability of this method of contraception in El Paso, Texas. It will build on the research findings and infrastructure of the project “Border Contraceptive Access Study,” in ...Read more >

Objective: We aim to host planning activities engaging key interdisciplinary and multi-sectoral collaborators to design innovative research on the effectiveness of family planning interventions to reduce reproductive coercion and intimate partner violence (IPV). We will expand our extensive partnerships with Canadian health system leaders, clinicians, community organizations, and researchers to develop a national family planning ...Read more >

Objective: The objectives of this study are to examine the feasibility and acceptability of using auricular acupuncture as an adjunct to pain management during suction aspiration. Study Design: We approached women seeking first trimester uterine evacuation prior to 13 weeks gestational age, either an elective abortion or secondary to an abnormal pregnancy for enrollment in ...Read more >

Background: Job stress—an occupational hazard with significant health impacts—is well documented among non-physician health care workers generally, but has not been studied among abortion workers. Job stress and coping may differ between abortion workers and other health care workers because the structural marginalization of abortion has resulted in service delivery models characterized by an unusual ...Read more >

Objectives: The study seeks to compare changes in sexual function among women using hormonal contraception to those among women using non-hormonal methods exclusively. Additionally, the study aims to determine how changes in sexual function influence method satisfaction and discontinuation. Methods: Women between the ages of 14 and 45 who were starting a new contraceptive were ...Read more >