SEXUAL-BEHAVIOR AND CONTRACEPTIVE KNOWLEDGE AND USE AMONG ADOLESCENTSIN DEVELOPING-COUNTRIES

This article offers an overview of sexual behavior and contraceptive k nowledge and use among adolescent women across a large number of devel oping countries. The results demonstrate that almost universally in su b-Saharan Africa and in the majority of countries in other regions, th e gap between age at first sexual intercourse and age at first marriag e has increased across age cohorts. The predominant pattern is one in which both age at marriage and age at first intercourse have risen, bu t the increase in age at marriage is greater, resulting in a widening gap. In most countries in sub-Saharan Africa, current contraceptive us e is higher among sexually active, unmarried teens than it is among ma rried teens, whereas in Latin America and the Caribbean, current-use l evels are higher among married teens. The results also show that adole scents are unlikely to use a contraceptive the first time they have se x and are more likely than older women to experience a contraceptive f ailure.