ABSTRACT
Positive trends in adolescent sexual activity, contraceptive use, pregnancy, and childbearing have occurred over the past decade. Between 1993 and 2003, the percentage of high school-aged teens who reported that they ever had sexual intercourse declined from 53% to 47% (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2004). These declines were found among males and females and among white and African American teens. However, Hispanic teens did not show as significant a decline as other racial/ethnic groups. Some research also suggests that contraceptive use is improving, with the percentage of sexually experienced high school teens who reported using contraception the most recent time they had sex increasing from 83% in 1991 to 87% in 2001 (Santelli et al., 2004). In addition, the teenage birth rate has declined since 1991 for all racial/ethnic and age groups, and for all states and the District of Columbia (Martin et al., 2003).
