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What Do Parents Say?

Marla E. Eisenberg, ScD, MPH; Carolyne Swain, MS; Linda H. Bearinger, PhD, MS; Renee E. Sieving, PhD, RNC; Michael D. Resnick, PhD

Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2005;159:120-125.

Background  Recent years have seen new challenges to laws protecting minors’ confidential access to reproductive health services. Little research has explored parental views on the issue.

Objective  To examine parents’ views about laws requiring parental notification (PNLs) when minor children seek to obtain prescription contraceptives, the exceptions parents would endorse, and the consequences they would expect.

Design  Fifteen-minute telephone surveys conducted in 2002.

Setting  Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Participants  Population-based sample of 1069 parents of adolescents aged 13 to 17 years with a working telephone number. An additional 1095 eligible parents declined and 360 were not available to participate.

Main Outcome Measures  Views about PNLs ("Do you think a law requiring notification of parents when a teen requests birth control from a clinic is a good idea, a bad idea, or neither a good nor a bad idea?").

Results  Of the eligible parents, 42.4% completed the survey. More than half (55.1%) of participants thought PNLs were a good idea. However, 96.1% of parents expected at least 1 negative consequence and 47.6% expected 5 or more negative consequences to result with the enactment of PNLs. For exceptions to PNLs, 85.5% of parents endorsed at least 1, and 29.7% endorsed 5 to 6. Each additional anticipated positive consequence of enacting PNLs was significantly associated with more than twice the odds of favoring PNLs (odds ratio [OR], 2.28), and each additional negative consequence was associated with lower odds of supporting PNLs (OR, 0.87). Likewise, each additional exception endorsed was associated with lower odds of supporting PNLs (OR, 0.71).

Conclusions  Many parents hold complex views on the need for confidentiality and the appropriate involvement of parents in adolescent health care services. Educating parents about the potential negative consequences of parental notification could change their support of PNLs.

Author Affiliations: Healthy Youth Development Prevention Research Center, Division of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Health (Drs Eisenberg, Bearinger, Sieving, and Resnick), and Center for Adolescent Nursing, School of Nursing (Drs Bearinger and Sieving), University of Minnesota, Minneapolis; and Title X/Region V Family Planning Training Program, MPRES, Inc, Milwaukee, Wis (Ms Swain).

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