Mechanisms Linking High Residential Mobility to Decreased Contraceptive Use: The Importance of Method Availability

Abstract

Abstract While research has demonstrated that high residential mobility has negative consequences for an array of outcomes, particularly among women and young adults, the mechanisms underlying these associations are unclear. The consequences of high residential mobility may be comprised solely of a series of short-term disruptions surrounding individual moves, or there may also be long-term, cumulative effects from repeated moves. High residential mobility may diminish access to resources as individuals move to different neighborhoods, impose a cognitive burden that impairs their ability to plan ahead, or decrease the relative power they have in their relationships to limit exposure to risk behaviors. We adjudicate between these possibilities by predicting the effects of high residential mobility on sexual intercourse and contraceptive use, the proximate determinants of pregnancy, during women’s transition to adulthood. Using 2.5 years of monthly address data for 882 respondents in the Relationship Dynamics and Social Life study—a random sample of young women in Genesee County, Michigan—we find that high residential mobility is associated with long-term decreases in contraceptive use. These long-term consequences are independent of the short-term effects of individual moves and attributable to diminished contraceptive access. We disentangle the effects of home-leaving, which is distinct from subsequent moves.