ABSTRACT
During the 1990s, there was a decline in the birthrate among adolescent females in the United States. The number of births per 1,000 females ages 15 to 19 was 42.9 in 2002 compared to 62.1 per 1,000 in 1991 (Child Trends, 2003). A number of factors contributed to this decline in the birthrate. The percentage of high school students who were sexually active decreased (Centers for Disease Control, 2001), and the use of contraception generally increased (Terry & Manlove, 2000). In addition, longer-term forms of birth control, such as Depo Provera and the birth control patch, became available.
