Potential reproductive knowledge measures and distributions in Add Health (weighted) and RDSL: Percentages unless otherwise indicated
| . | Variable Name . | Add Health . | RDSL . |
|---|---|---|---|
| True/False Questions,a Proportion Answering Correctly | |||
| Most women’s periods are regular, that is, they ovulate or are fertile fourteen days after their periods begin. (false) | ovulate | 27.2 | 21.5 |
| The most likely time for a woman to get pregnant is right before her period starts. (false) | before period | 42.4 | 41.7 |
| In general, a woman is most likely to get pregnant if she has sex during her period, as compared with other times of the month. (false) | during period | 60.4 | 68.9 |
| When a women has sexual intercourse, almost all sperm die inside her body after about six hours. (false) | sperm die | 59.8 | |
| Even if the man pulls out before he ejaculates, even if ejaculation occurs outside of the woman’s body, it is still possible for the woman to become pregnant. (true) | withdraw, get preg | 80.5 | 81.8 |
| When putting on a condom, it is important to have it fit tightly, leaving no space at the tip. (false) | condom fit tight | 57.0 | 63.1 |
| Vaseline can be used with condoms, and they work just as well. (false) | Vaseline | 68.5 | |
| As long as the condom fits over the tip of the penis, it doesn’t matter how far down it is unrolled. (false) | fully unroll | 89.2 | 96.0 |
| When using a condom, the man should pull out of the woman right after he has ejaculated. (false) | pull out | 74.4 | 70.8 |
| When a woman misses more than two days of birth control pills, she should use another birth control method. (true) | miss pills | 70.5 | |
| If you were to have sexual intercourse once or twice without using birth control, what are the chances that you would get pregnant?b (mean) | sex once | 3.21 (0.97) | 3.30 (1.23) |
| Confidence Questions,c Proportion Answering Strongly Agree/Agree | |||
| You are quite knowledgeable about the rhythm method of birth control and when it is a “safe” time during the month for a woman to have sex and not get pregnant. | rhythm confidence | 57.8 | |
| You are quite knowledgeable about how to use a condom correctly. | condom confidence | 89.0 | |
| You are quite knowledgeable about the withdrawal method of birth control.b | withdrawal confidence | 70.1 | |
| . | Variable Name . | Add Health . | RDSL . |
|---|---|---|---|
| True/False Questions,a Proportion Answering Correctly | |||
| Most women’s periods are regular, that is, they ovulate or are fertile fourteen days after their periods begin. (false) | ovulate | 27.2 | 21.5 |
| The most likely time for a woman to get pregnant is right before her period starts. (false) | before period | 42.4 | 41.7 |
| In general, a woman is most likely to get pregnant if she has sex during her period, as compared with other times of the month. (false) | during period | 60.4 | 68.9 |
| When a women has sexual intercourse, almost all sperm die inside her body after about six hours. (false) | sperm die | 59.8 | |
| Even if the man pulls out before he ejaculates, even if ejaculation occurs outside of the woman’s body, it is still possible for the woman to become pregnant. (true) | withdraw, get preg | 80.5 | 81.8 |
| When putting on a condom, it is important to have it fit tightly, leaving no space at the tip. (false) | condom fit tight | 57.0 | 63.1 |
| Vaseline can be used with condoms, and they work just as well. (false) | Vaseline | 68.5 | |
| As long as the condom fits over the tip of the penis, it doesn’t matter how far down it is unrolled. (false) | fully unroll | 89.2 | 96.0 |
| When using a condom, the man should pull out of the woman right after he has ejaculated. (false) | pull out | 74.4 | 70.8 |
| When a woman misses more than two days of birth control pills, she should use another birth control method. (true) | miss pills | 70.5 | |
| If you were to have sexual intercourse once or twice without using birth control, what are the chances that you would get pregnant?b (mean) | sex once | 3.21 (0.97) | 3.30 (1.23) |
| Confidence Questions,c Proportion Answering Strongly Agree/Agree | |||
| You are quite knowledgeable about the rhythm method of birth control and when it is a “safe” time during the month for a woman to have sex and not get pregnant. | rhythm confidence | 57.8 | |
| You are quite knowledgeable about how to use a condom correctly. | condom confidence | 89.0 | |
| You are quite knowledgeable about the withdrawal method of birth control.b | withdrawal confidence | 70.1 | |
a Analytically, items were recoded so that 1 equals the correct answer, and 0 equals the incorrect answer.
b In Add Health, this item was measured on a scale of 1 = almost no chance to 5 = almost certain, In RDSL, this item was measured on a scale of 1 % to 100 %, which we recoded to correspond with Add Health.
c Originally measured on a scale of 1 = strongly agree to 5 = strongly disagree. Recoded as a dichotomous variable: 1 = strongly agree/agree and 0 = all other responses.