Fertility knowledge and the timing of first childbearing: a cross-sectional study in Japan

Maeda, Eri, Nakamura, Fumiaki, Boivin, Jacky ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9498-1708, Kobayashi, Yasuki, Sugimori, Hiroki and Saito, Hidekazu 2016. Fertility knowledge and the timing of first childbearing: a cross-sectional study in Japan. Human Fertility 19 (4) , pp. 275-281. 10.1080/14647273.2016.1239033

Preview

PDF - Accepted Post-Print Version Download (384kB) | Preview

Abstract

Although fertility educational initiatives have increased in developed countries to prevent infertility and to broaden fertility choices, the relationship between knowledge and behaviour is still poorly understood. In order to investigate the association between fertility knowledge and timing of childbearing, we investigated male and female participants between 35 and 44 years of age who had children (n = 640) from an online survey conducted in Japan in 2013. The age at which participants actually gave birth to or fathered their first child was compared between those who were aware for at least a decade of age-related decline in female fertility (hereinafter, those with past fertility knowledge) and those without. Age at first birth was significantly younger and more narrowly distributed among women with past fertility knowledge than among those without: 28.2 ± 3.4 vs. 29.8 ± 4.6 (mean ± SD). A multivariate linear regression analysis showed that women with past fertility knowledge gave birth to their first child 2.34 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.09–3.59] years earlier compared to those without such knowledge. No significant relation existed among men. Being informed in young adulthood about the facts of fertility might be related to starting a family at an earlier age, although further longitudinal evaluation will be necessary.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Psychology
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Fertility awareness, delayed childbearing, education, Cardiff Fertility Knowledge Scale, Japan
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
ISSN:	1464-7273
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	28 July 2017
Date of Acceptance:	23 December 2015
Last Modified:	07 Nov 2023 06:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/102838

Citation Data

Cited 5 times in Scopus. View in Scopus. Powered By Scopus® Data

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item