Abstract
Mood and sexual interest changes are commonly cited reasons for discontinuing hormonal contraceptives. Data, however, are inconsistent and limited to adult users. We examined associations of hormonal contraceptive use with mood and sexual interest among adolescents. We recruited 14–17-year-old women from primary care clinics and followed them longitudinally for up to 41 months. Participants completed face-to-face interviews quarterly and two 12-week periods of daily diary collection per year. On daily diaries, participants recorded positive mood, negative mood, and sexual interest. We classified 12-week diary periods as “stable OCP use,” “non-use,” “initiated use,” “stopped use,” and “DMPA use” based on self-report of oral contraceptive pill (OCP) use and depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) use from medical charts. Diary periods were the unit of analysis. Participants could contribute more than one diary period. We analyzed data using linear models with a random intercept and slope across weeks in a diary period, an effect for contraceptive group, and an adjustment for age at the start of a diary period. Mean weekly positive mood was higher in diary periods characterized by stable OCP use, compared to other groups. Mean weekly negative mood was lower in diary periods characterized by stable OCP use and higher in periods characterized by DMPA use. Periods characterized by stable OCP use additionally showed less mood variation than other groups. Changes in mood among adolescent hormonal contraceptive users differed from those anticipated for adult users. Attention to adolescent-specific changes in mood and sexual interest may improve contraceptive adherence.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Arnett, J. J. (1999). Adolescent storm and stress, reconsidered. American Psychologist, 54, 317–326.
Bancroft, J., & Rennie, D. (1993). The impact of oral contraceptives on the experience of perimenstrual mood, clumsiness, food craving and other symptoms. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 37, 195–202.
Bancroft, J., & Sartorius, N. (1990). The effects of oral contraceptives on well-being and sexuality. Oxford Reviews of Reproductive Biology, 12, 57–92.
Civic, D., Scholes, D., Ichikawa, L., LaCroix, A. Z., Yoshida, C. K., Ott, S. M., et al. (2000). Depressive symptoms in users and non-users of depot medroxyprogesterone acetate. Contraception, 61, 385–390.
Compas, B. E., Ey, S., & Grant, K. E. (1993). Taxonomy, assessment, and diagnosis of depression during adolescence. Psychological Bulletin, 114, 323–344.
Cromer, B. A., Smith, R. D., Blair, J. M., Dwyer, J., & Brown, R. T. (1994). A prospective study of adolescents who choose among levonorgestrel implant (Norplant), medroxyprogesterone acetate (Depo-Provera), or the combined oral contraceptive pill as contraception. Pediatrics, 94, 687–694.
Davis, A. R., & Castaño, P. M. (2004). Oral contraceptives and libido in women. Annual Review of Sex Research, 15, 297–320.
Fortenberry, J. D., Temkit, M., Tu, W., Graham, C. A., Katz, B. P., & Orr, D. P. (2005). Daily mood, partner support, sexual interest, and sexual activity among adolescent women. Health Psychology, 24, 252–257.
Furstenberg, F. F., Shea, J., Allison, P., Herceg-Baron, R., & Webb, D. (1983). Contraceptive continuation among adolescents attending family planning clinics. Family Planning Perspectives, 15, 211–214, 216–217.
Grady, W. R., Billy, J. O., & Klepinger, D. H. (2002). Contraceptive method switching in the United States. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 34, 135–145.
Graham, C. A., Ramos, R., Bancroft, J., Maglaya, C., & Farley, T. M. (1995). The effects of steroidal contraceptives on the well-being and sexuality of women: A double-blind, placebo-controlled, two-centre study of combined and progestogen-only methods. Contraception, 52, 363–369.
Gupta, N., O’Brien, R., Jacobsen, L. J., Davis, A., Zuckerman, A., Supran, S., et al. (2001). Mood changes in adolescents using depot-medroxyprogesterone acetate for contraception: A prospective study. Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology, 14, 71–76.
Hatcher, R. A., Trussell, J., Stewart, F., Nelson, A. L., Cates, W., Guest, F., et al. (2004). Contraceptive technology (18th rev. ed.). New York: Ardent Media, Inc.
Katz, B. P., Fortenberry, J. D., Tu, W., Harezlak, J., & Orr, D. P. (2001). Sexual behavior among adolescent women at high risk for sexually transmitted infections. Sexually Transmitted Diseases, 28, 247–251.
Kaunitz, A. M. (1999). Long-acting hormonal contraception: Assessing impact on bone density, weight, and mood. International Journal of Fertility and Women’s Medicine, 44, 110–117.
Kay, C. R. (1984). The Royal College of General Practitioners’ Oral Contraception Study: Some recent observations. Clinics in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 11, 759–786.
Kramer, C. Y. (1956). Extension of multiple range tests to group means with unequal numbers of replications. Biometrics, 12, 307–310.
Matson, S. C., Henderson, K. A., & McGrath, G. J. (1997). Physical findings and symptoms of depot medroxyprogesterone acetate use in adolescent females. Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology, 10, 18–23.
Oinonen, K. A., & Mazmanian, D. (2001). Effects of oral contraceptives on daily self-ratings of positive and negative affect. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 51, 647–658.
Oinonen, K. A., & Mazmanian, D. (2002). To what extent do oral contraceptives influence mood and affect? Journal of Affective Disorders, 70, 229–240.
Rosenthal, S. L., Cotton, S., Ready, J. N., Potter, L. S., & Succop, P. A. (2002). Adolescents’ attitudes and experiences regarding levonorgestrel 100 mcg/ethinyl estradiol 20 mcg. Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology, 15, 301–305.
Sanders, D., Warner, P., Backstrom, T., & Bancroft, J. (1983). Mood, sexuality, hormones and the menstrual cycle. I. Changes in mood and physical state: Description of subjects and method. Psychosomatic Medicine, 45, 487–501.
Sanders, S. A., Graham, C. A., Bass, J. L., & Bancroft, J. (2001). A prospective study of the effects of oral contraceptives on sexuality and well-being and their relationship to discontinuation. Contraception, 64, 51–58.
Slap, G. B. (1981). Oral contraceptives and depression: Impact, prevalence and cause. Journal of Adolescent Health Care, 2, 53–64.
Smiler, A. P., Ward, L. M., Caruthers, A., & Merriwether, A. (2005). Pleasure, empowerment, and love: Factors associated with a positive first coitus. Sexuality Research and Social Policy: Journal of NSRC, 2, 41–55.
Tolman, D. L. (2002). Dilemmas of desire: Teenage girls talk about sexuality. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Warner, P., & Bancroft, J. (1988). Mood, sexuality, oral contraceptives and the menstrual cycle. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 32, 417–427.
Warner, P., Bancroft, J., Dixson, A., & Hampson, M. (1991). The relationship between perimenstrual depressive mood and depressive illness. Journal of Affective Disorders, 23, 9–23.
Westhoff, C. (2003). Depot-medroxyprogesterone acetate injection (Depo-Provera): A highly effective contraceptive option with proven long-term safety. Contraception, 68, 75–87.
Westhoff, C., Wieland, D., & Tiezzi, L. (1995). Depression in users of depo-medroxy-progesterone acetate. Contraception, 51, 351–354.
Woods, J. L., Shew, M. L., Tu, W., Ofner, S., Ott, M. A., & Fortenberry, J. D. (2006). Patterns of oral contraceptive pill-taking and condom use among adolescent contraceptive pill users. Journal of Adolescent Health, 39, 381–387.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ott, M.A., Shew, M.L., Ofner, S. et al. The Influence of Hormonal Contraception on Mood and Sexual Interest among Adolescents. Arch Sex Behav 37, 605–613 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-007-9302-0
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-007-9302-0