Suchergebnisse

This note analyzes the association between media exposure and reproductive behavior in 48 developing countries. A summary of part of a more extensive Demographic and Health Surveys report, it shows strong connections between media exposure and the use of modern contraception, the number of children desired, and recent fertility. Television viewing is particularly important; it is assumed to expose viewers to aspects of modern life that compete with traditional attitudes toward the family and is associated with greater use of modern contraceptive methods, with a desire for fewer children, and with lower fertility. These relationships are particularly noteworthy because the data measure only the frequency of media exposure with no information about its content.

Partnership formation is an important developmental task for adolescents, but cross‐sectional and periodic longitudinal studies have lacked the measurement precision to portray partnership stability and flux and to capture the range of adolescent partnership experiences. This article assesses the promises and challenges of using bi‐weekly mobile diaries administered over the course of a year to study adolescent partnership dynamics. Descriptive findings illustrate the potential of bi‐weekly diaries for both capturing the longitudinal complexity and fluidity of adolescent partnerships as well as for reducing retrospection biases. Results also underscore several challenges, including those posed by missing data, and highlight several strategies for maximizing participant engagement and reliably tracing adolescent partnerships.