Pregnancy wantedness: attitude stability over time.

Abstract

In this analysis we have compared two attitudinal reports, from interviews two years apart, of the same event for consistency over time. We have looked at women's self-reports, and at their proxy reports for partners' attitudes as well. The inconsistent reports of women's own views tended to shift slightly toward more favorable reports at the second interview (15 percent more positive versus 10 percent more negative). More specifically, 7.5 percent of women who reported at Time 1 that their most recent births had been unwanted switched to more favorable reports at Time 2, and about the same percentage of women who reported Table 4, the findings would suggest that some of the groups typically considered to be most "at risk" were those who were also most apt to report inconsistently. This findings should signal some concern in the policy community. Net of other factors, there is no effect of income, but a number of at-risk groups remained significantly more likely than others to change their reports over time. Of particular concern is the finding that women who reported their pregnancies as mistimed or unwanted were so much more likely to change their reports over time than were women who initially said that their pregnancies had been well timed. When we look at the direction of change, it is clear that, with some exceptions, the more "at risk" groups were more likely to shift in a more negative direction, while the less "at risk" groups were less likely to do so; and at times they were more likely to report more favorably at the second interview. Although somewhat hampered by small sample sizes in the analysis of Time 1 mistimed and unwanted reports, results confirmed that certain subgroups were not only more apt to report inconsistently, they were also more likely to do so in specific directions. To the extent that future survey questions can emphasize to respondents that they should focus on the time of conception, and not on current status, inconsistency across groups may be reduced.