Objectives: To examine contraceptive methods used by adolescent/young adult women of diverse sexual orientations.
Study design: We collected data from 12,902 females, born 1982-1995, from the longitudinal Growing Up Today Study.
Results: Compared to heterosexuals, lesbians were half as likely to use contraceptives; other sexual minority subgroups (e.g., bisexuals) were more likely to use contraceptives, particularly long-acting reversible contraceptives.
Conclusions: Many sexual minority women use contraception throughout adolescence/young adulthood, though use is low among lesbians.
Implications: With limited contraception use, lesbians miss opportunities for care and need to be brought into the healthcare system in other ways.
Keywords: Bisexual; Contraception uptake; Health disparity; Lesbian; Sexual-minority women.
Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier Inc.