This study develops an empirical model of adolescent premarital childbearing which emphasizes the influence of opportunity costs. The model estimates determinants of premarital pregnancy, the choice to abort or carry to term, and whether a marriage occurs before the birth. The sample is from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. The long-run opportunity costs are the predicted effects of p...

There are an estimated 45 million carriers of β-thalassemia trait and about 12,000-15,000 infants with β-thalassemia major are born every year in India. Thalassemia major constitutes a significant burden on the health care system. The burden of thalassemia major can be decreased by premarital screening and prenatal diagnosis. The success of prenatal diagnosis requires proper knowledge of spectr...

Premarital health examination (PHE) is ideally to prevent sexually-transmitted diseases (STD) within a couple; to detect reproductive problems or hereditary illness which may pass to offspring; and to provide counseling on family planning and genetic health. However, little is known about the implementation of PHE program. We conducted a selfadministered questionnaire survey to participants who...

Premarital precursors of infidelity were evaluated in a sample of 72 couples (N = 144) who were taking part in a longitudinal study of marriage. Premarital self-report and observational data were compared for couples who experienced infidelity and those who did not experience infidelity in the first years of marriage. Couples in which the male engaged in marital infidelity were characterized, p...

CONTEXT Despite restrictive social norms, there is increasing evidence that youth in India engage in premarital romantic and sexual partnerships. However, information on how they initiate and build these relationships is scarce, even though it is vital for addressing the needs of young people. METHODS Attitudes toward and behavior within romantic partnerships were examined using data collecte...

Aim To determine an impact of parental divorce to depression and intimate relationships of young people during adolescence, and prevalence of symptoms of depression and the level of intimacy in relations to adolescents living in intact families and those from divorced families. Methods This prospective descriptive research was conducted on a sample of 168 examinees of which 64 (38.1%) were stud...

We evaluated whether family planning counseling (FPC) in an adolescent clinic promoted the onset of sexual activity among the non-sexually active teens and/or increased contraceptive use among the sexually active teens. The FPC focused on the teens' establishing sexual values, the right to say "no," abstinence and alternate forms of intimacy, consequences of intercourse, and the various contrac...