Jeanette A Higgins
Biographic Data
| ID | 1382066 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Jeanette A Higgins |
| GIVEN NAMES | Jeanette A |
| FAMILY NAME | Higgins |
| SIGNATURE | HIGGINS J A |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Wisconsin–Madison |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-1352-8416 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 48 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 335 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 48 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2001 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 12 |
Brakes and accelerators to abortion access in a post-Dobbs landscape
It is critical to conduct research with people who consider abortion but never connect with a clinic, whose stories may help identify the largest impediments to abortion access. The need for this evidence is urgent in post- Dobbs restrictive states, including Wisconsin. We 1) located abortion considerers through innovative recruitment mechanisms, 2) examined their experiences within a dynamic state-based context, and 3) adapted a brakes-and-accel…
Developing Contraceptive Decision-Making Profiles via Latent Class Analysis
A Measure Aligned With Reproductive Justice, Human Rights, and Sexual Well-Being…? Yes Please, and Here’s Why
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Queer+ Patients’ Preferences for Contraceptive Counseling and Experiences of Coercion in Contraceptive Care
Although one in three U.S. contraceptive clients identify as something other than heterosexual, research has overlooked associations between sexual identity and experiences of provider-based contraceptive coercion - that is, pressure from a healthcare provider to use or not use birth control. In 2023, we used the online Prolific panel to survey U.S. reproductive-age people assigned female at birth about their contraceptive care ( N = 1,399; mean …
I'm going to be forced to have a baby”
This analysis of real-time social media posts reveals multiple ways that the COVID-19 pandemic limited abortion access in the US and affected abortion seekers' decisions and experiences. Findings shed light on the consequences of sudden changes, whether pandemic or policy related, on abortion service delivery
Characterizing physician concerns with publicly supporting abortion at Wisconsin's largest medical school
Many physicians supportive of abortion reported concerns over publicizing their support for this common health care service. These concerns may render physicians less likely to refer patients for needed abortion care or weigh in on abortion policy
Abortion Policy Context in Adolescence and Men’s Future Educational Achievement
Am I the Only One Who Feels Like This?”
In the United States, abortion is safe and common, but highly stigmatized and frequently targeted by legislation that aims to restrict access. Numerous obstacles impede access to abortion care, including logistical barriers like cost and transportation, limited clinic availability, and state-mandated waiting periods. Accurate abortion information can also be hard to access. To overcome these barriers, many people seeking abortion turn to anonymou…
Sex, poverty, and public health
Financial scarcity appears to constrain sexual wellbeing. To support positive sexual health, the public health field must continue to focus on economic reform, poverty reduction, and dismantling of structural classism as critical aspects of helping people achieve their full health and wellbeing potential. ClinialTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02734199
Willing but unable
Abortion care is a crucial part of reproductive healthcare. Nevertheless, its availability is constrained by numerous forces, including care referrals within the larger healthcare system. Using a unique study of physician faculty across multiple specialties, we examine the factors associated with doctors' ability to refer patients for abortion care among those who were willing to consult in the care of a patient seeking an abortion (N = 674). Eve…
Real-Time Effects of Payer Restrictions on Reproductive Healthcare
Findings from this study underscore the centrality of cost barriers and third-party payer restrictions to stymying reproductive health access in the United States. Results may contribute to the growing evidence base and building political momentum focused on repealing the Hyde Amendment
The Importance of Physician Concern and Expertise in Increasing Abortion Health Care Access in Local Contexts
Sexual Functioning, Satisfaction, and Well-Being Among Contraceptive Users
Few large, longitudinal studies document multiple contraceptive methods’ effects on sexual functioning, satisfaction, and well-being. We leveraged data from the HER Salt Lake Contraceptive Initiative, a prospective cohort study with patient surveys at baseline, one month, and three months. Surveys assessed bleeding changes, contraceptive-related side effects, sexual functioning and satisfaction, and perceptions of methods’ impact on sexual well-b…
Reproductive Autonomy Is Nonnegotiable, Even in the Time of Covid ‐19
The COVID-19 pandemic has swept across the world, altering nearly every facet of contemporary life and causing behavioral and socioeconomic changes that seemed unthinkable a few months ago. The increased risks for human health include not just the dangers posed by the virus itself, but also the upheaval to the broader health care and societal landscapes, which has threatened access to critical sexual and reproductive health services. In this view…
Sexual Minority Women and Contraceptive Use
Compared with their heterosexual peers, sexual minority women (SMW; e.g., queer, bisexual, lesbian, pansexual) have an elevated risk for unintended pregnancy. A team of social science and clinical researchers qualitatively documented the multilevel pathways leading to this disparity, particularly the contexts of contraceptive use. From August 2017 to April 2018, we conducted focus groups and interviews with young adult cisgender SMW in 3 cities: …
The Impact of Sexual Satisfaction, Functioning, and Perceived Contraceptive Effects on Sex Life on IUD and Implant Continuation at 1 Year
Pregnancy Ambivalence and Long‐Acting Reversible Contraceptive ( Larc ) Use Among Young Adult Women
Effectiveness is not the only factor in women's selection and use of contraceptive methods. Individual preferences will lead some women to choose non-LARC methods even when fully informed of their options
Establishment of safety paradigms and trust in emerging adult relationships
There is a critical need to understand the interplay between relationship trust and public health outcomes. The purpose of this study was to develop an understanding of emerging adult women's processes of establishing trust in sexual relationships. Twenty-five women aged 18-24 years participated in semi-structured interviews. Throughout the interviews, women compared and contrasted experiences in which they felt comfortable engaging in sexual int…
Fatherhood, marriage and HIV risk among young men in rural Uganda
Compared to a large body of work on how gender may affect young women's vulnerability to HIV, we know little about how masculine ideals and practices relating to marriage and fertility desires shape young men's HIV risk. Using life-history interview data with 30 HIV-positive and HIV-negative young men aged 15-24 years, this analysis offers an in-depth perspective on young men's transition through adolescence, the desire for fatherhood and experie…
Realizing Reproductive Health Equity Needs More Than Long-Acting Reversible Contraception (Larc)
Provider Bias in Long-Acting Reversible Contraception (Larc) Promotion and Removal
Long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) is effective and acceptable. However, concern exists about potential provider bias in LARC promotion. No study has documented contraceptive users’ attitudes toward or experiences with provider influence and bias regarding LARC. We collected qualitative data in 2014 to address this gap. Participants were 50 young adult women with any history of contraceptive use (including LARC) in Dane County, Wisconsin…
The Sexual Acceptability of Contraception
How contraceptives affect women's sexual well-being is critically understudied. Fortunately, a growing literature focuses on sexual aspects of contraception, especially hormonal contraception's associations with libido. However, a more holistic approach to contraceptive sexual acceptability is needed to capture the full range of women's sexual experiences. We conducted a narrative literature review of this topic, working with an original sample o…
The Sexual Acceptability of Intrauterine Contraception
Future research and interventions should attend to issues of sexual acceptability: Positive sexual aspects of the IUD could be used promotionally, and counseling about sexual concerns could increase women's willingness to try the method
The Role of Young Adults’ Pleasure Attitudes in Shaping Condom Use
Condoms can help young adults protect themselves from sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancy. We examined young people’s attitudes about whether condoms reduced pleasure and how these attitudes shape condom practices. We used a nationally representative sample of 2328 heterosexually active, unmarried 15- to 24-year-old young adults to document multivariate associations with condom nonuse at the last sexual episode. For both youn…
Celebration meets caution
Virginity Lost, Satisfaction Gained? Physiological and Psychological Sexual Satisfaction at Heterosexual Debut
Despite the literature's focus on (hetero)sexual initiation, little is known about the degree to which young people are satisfied by their first vaginal intercourse experience, let alone the factors that predict satisfaction. This study analyzed data from a cross-sectional survey of 1,986 non-Hispanic White and Black 18- to 25-year-old respondents from four university campuses. Respondents were asked to rate the degree to which their first vagina…
Rethinking Gender, Heterosexual Men, and Women's Vulnerability to HIV/Aids
Most HIV prevention literature portrays women as especially vulnerable to HIV infection because of biological susceptibility and men's sexual power and privilege. Conversely, heterosexual men are perceived as active transmitters of HIV but not active agents in prevention. Although the women's vulnerability paradigm was a radical revision of earlier views of women in the epidemic, mounting challenges undermine its current usefulness. We review the…
Realizing Reproductive Health Equity Needs More Than Long-Acting Reversible Contraception (Larc)
Pregnancy Ambivalence and Contraceptive Use Among Young Adults in the United States
The association between men's pregnancy ambivalence and contraceptive practices suggests that women should not remain the sole targets of pregnancy prevention programs. Further research should explore whether clinical interventions that assess and address pregnancy ambivalence for both women and men could lead to improved contraceptive counseling and use
Provider Bias in Long-Acting Reversible Contraception (Larc) Promotion and Removal
Long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) is effective and acceptable. However, concern exists about potential provider bias in LARC promotion. No study has documented contraceptive users’ attitudes toward or experiences with provider influence and bias regarding LARC. We collected qualitative data in 2014 to address this gap. Participants were 50 young adult women with any history of contraceptive use (including LARC) in Dane County, Wisconsin…
Pleasure, Prophylaxis and Procreation
For some individuals, the perceived emotional and sexual benefits of conception may outweigh the goal of averting conception, even when a child is not wholly intended. Future behavioral studies should collect more nuanced data on pregnancy-related pleasure. Clinicians and patients would benefit from clearer guidelines for assessing ambivalence and for linking ambivalent clients with longer-acting methods that are not coitus-dependent
Pleasure, Power, and Inequality
We know surprisingly little about how contraception affects sexual enjoyment and functioning (and vice versa), particularly for women. What do people seek from sex, and how do sexual experiences shape contraceptive use? We draw on qualitative data to make 3 points. First, pleasure varies. Both women and men reported multiple aspects of enjoyment, of which physical pleasure was only one. Second, pleasure matters. Clear links exist between the form…
The Pleasure Deficit
Relationships between men's gender attitudes and fertility
An analysis published in a recent edition of this journal (Puur, Olah, Tazi-Preve, and Dorbritz 2008) reported that, in eight European countries, men with egalitarian gender attitudes both desired and had more children than men with more traditional ge
Sexual Needs, Control, and Refusal
The poor are disproportionately affected by unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). We know relatively little, however, about the sexual processes behind these disparities. Despite studies of gender enactment's influence on sexual behaviors, few analyses examine the sexual "doing" of social class. We conducted sexual history interviews with 36 women and men, half middle class and half poor and working class. Most responde…
Sexual Satisfaction and Sexual Health Among University Students in the United States
Despite the World Health Organization's definition of sexual health as a state of well-being, virtually no public health research has examined sexual well-being outcomes, including sexual satisfaction. Emerging evidence suggests that sexual well-being indicators are associated with more classic measures of healthy sexual behaviors. We surveyed 2168 university students in the United States and asked them to rate their physiological and psychologic…
Pregnancy Ambivalence and Long‐Acting Reversible Contraceptive ( Larc ) Use Among Young Adult Women
Effectiveness is not the only factor in women's selection and use of contraceptive methods. Individual preferences will lead some women to choose non-LARC methods even when fully informed of their options
The Sexual Acceptability of Contraception
How contraceptives affect women's sexual well-being is critically understudied. Fortunately, a growing literature focuses on sexual aspects of contraception, especially hormonal contraception's associations with libido. However, a more holistic approach to contraceptive sexual acceptability is needed to capture the full range of women's sexual experiences. We conducted a narrative literature review of this topic, working with an original sample o…
Factors Associated with the Content of Sex Education in U.S. Public Secondary Schools
Willingness to Have Unprotected Sex
Little is known about people's willingness to engage in sex without protection from unwanted pregnancy. This study surveyed 1,497 women and men at 75 clinics and physician offices across California after their reproductive health care visits in late 2007 and early 2008. When asked if they would have sex without contraception, 30% said definitively that yes, they would have unprotected sex, and 20% indicated they would "sometimes" or "maybe" engag…
The Sexual Acceptability of Intrauterine Contraception
Future research and interventions should attend to issues of sexual acceptability: Positive sexual aspects of the IUD could be used promotionally, and counseling about sexual concerns could increase women's willingness to try the method
The Role of Young Adults’ Pleasure Attitudes in Shaping Condom Use
Condoms can help young adults protect themselves from sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancy. We examined young people’s attitudes about whether condoms reduced pleasure and how these attitudes shape condom practices. We used a nationally representative sample of 2328 heterosexually active, unmarried 15- to 24-year-old young adults to document multivariate associations with condom nonuse at the last sexual episode. For both youn…
Arousal Loss Related to Safer Sex and Risk of Pregnancy
Some men and women are turned off by safer-sex practices or by pregnancy risk. Given arousal profiles' potential contributions to unintended pregnancies and STD transmission, they should be integrated into sexual health behavioral models, research and programming
The Use of Film in Marriage and Family Counselor Education
The authors introduce an innovative technique that can be included in marriage and family counselor education curricula. Feature films are discussed as an educational technique for the instruction and development of perceptual, conceptual, and executive counseling skills. They also outline the advantages for using film in counselor education, present various strategies for using them in the classroom, and offer examples of how they have integrate…
I'm going to be forced to have a baby”
This analysis of real-time social media posts reveals multiple ways that the COVID-19 pandemic limited abortion access in the US and affected abortion seekers' decisions and experiences. Findings shed light on the consequences of sudden changes, whether pandemic or policy related, on abortion service delivery
Am I the Only One Who Feels Like This?”
In the United States, abortion is safe and common, but highly stigmatized and frequently targeted by legislation that aims to restrict access. Numerous obstacles impede access to abortion care, including logistical barriers like cost and transportation, limited clinic availability, and state-mandated waiting periods. Accurate abortion information can also be hard to access. To overcome these barriers, many people seeking abortion turn to anonymou…
Sex, poverty, and public health
Financial scarcity appears to constrain sexual wellbeing. To support positive sexual health, the public health field must continue to focus on economic reform, poverty reduction, and dismantling of structural classism as critical aspects of helping people achieve their full health and wellbeing potential. ClinialTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02734199
Reproductive Autonomy Is Nonnegotiable, Even in the Time of Covid ‐19
The COVID-19 pandemic has swept across the world, altering nearly every facet of contemporary life and causing behavioral and socioeconomic changes that seemed unthinkable a few months ago. The increased risks for human health include not just the dangers posed by the virus itself, but also the upheaval to the broader health care and societal landscapes, which has threatened access to critical sexual and reproductive health services. In this view…
Sexual Minority Women and Contraceptive Use
Compared with their heterosexual peers, sexual minority women (SMW; e.g., queer, bisexual, lesbian, pansexual) have an elevated risk for unintended pregnancy. A team of social science and clinical researchers qualitatively documented the multilevel pathways leading to this disparity, particularly the contexts of contraceptive use. From August 2017 to April 2018, we conducted focus groups and interviews with young adult cisgender SMW in 3 cities: …
Hysterectomy Prevalence by Hispanic Ethnicity
Objectives. We investigated hysterectomy prevalence among Hispanic women. Methods. We obtained data from 4684 Hispanic women and 20 604 non-Hispanic White women from the 1998–1999 National Health Interview Survey. We calculated nationally representative odds ratios of previous hysterectomy, controlling for confounders. Results. Compared with non-Hispanic White women, the odds ratio for hysterectomy was 0.36 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.30, 0…
The Use of Film in Marriage and Family Counselor Education
The authors introduce an innovative technique that can be included in marriage and family counselor education curricula. Feature films are discussed as an educational technique for the instruction and development of perceptual, conceptual, and executive counseling skills. They also outline the advantages for using film in counselor education, present various strategies for using them in the classroom, and offer examples of how they have integrate…
Factors Associated with the Content of Sex Education in U.S. Public Secondary Schools
Hysterectomy Prevalence by Hispanic Ethnicity
Objectives. We investigated hysterectomy prevalence among Hispanic women. Methods. We obtained data from 4684 Hispanic women and 20 604 non-Hispanic White women from the 1998–1999 National Health Interview Survey. We calculated nationally representative odds ratios of previous hysterectomy, controlling for confounders. Results. Compared with non-Hispanic White women, the odds ratio for hysterectomy was 0.36 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.30, 0…
The Pleasure Deficit
Pleasure, Prophylaxis and Procreation
For some individuals, the perceived emotional and sexual benefits of conception may outweigh the goal of averting conception, even when a child is not wholly intended. Future behavioral studies should collect more nuanced data on pregnancy-related pleasure. Clinicians and patients would benefit from clearer guidelines for assessing ambivalence and for linking ambivalent clients with longer-acting methods that are not coitus-dependent
Pleasure, Power, and Inequality
We know surprisingly little about how contraception affects sexual enjoyment and functioning (and vice versa), particularly for women. What do people seek from sex, and how do sexual experiences shape contraceptive use? We draw on qualitative data to make 3 points. First, pleasure varies. Both women and men reported multiple aspects of enjoyment, of which physical pleasure was only one. Second, pleasure matters. Clear links exist between the form…
Sexual Needs, Control, and Refusal
The poor are disproportionately affected by unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). We know relatively little, however, about the sexual processes behind these disparities. Despite studies of gender enactment's influence on sexual behaviors, few analyses examine the sexual "doing" of social class. We conducted sexual history interviews with 36 women and men, half middle class and half poor and working class. Most responde…
Lessons Learned about Behavioral Science and Acute/Early HIV Infection. The Nimh Multisite Acute HIV Infection Study
Psychiatric Context of Acute/Early HIV Infection. The Nimh Multisite Acute HIV Infection Study
Acute/early HIV infection is a period of high risk for HIV transmission. Better understanding of behavioral aspects during this period could improve interventions to limit further transmission. Thirty-four participants with acute/early HIV infection from six US cities were assessed with the Mini International Diagnostic Interview, Beck Depression Inventory II, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Brief COPE, and an in-depth interview. Most had a pre-HI…
Behavior Change Following Diagnosis with Acute/Early HIV Infection—A Move to Serosorting with Other HIV-Infected Individuals. The Nimh Multisite Acute HIV Infection Study
Risk reductions behaviors are especially important during acute/early HIV infection, a period of high transmission risk. We examined how sexual behaviors changed following diagnosis of acute/early HIV infection. Twenty-eight individuals completed structured surveys and in-depth interviews shortly after learning of their infection and 2 months later. Quantitative analyses revealed significant changes after diagnosis, including reductions in total …
Lack of Understanding of Acute HIV Infection among Newly-Infected Persons—Implications for Prevention and Public Health
Arousal Loss Related to Safer Sex and Risk of Pregnancy
Some men and women are turned off by safer-sex practices or by pregnancy risk. Given arousal profiles' potential contributions to unintended pregnancies and STD transmission, they should be integrated into sexual health behavioral models, research and programming
Relationships between men's gender attitudes and fertility
An analysis published in a recent edition of this journal (Puur, Olah, Tazi-Preve, and Dorbritz 2008) reported that, in eight European countries, men with egalitarian gender attitudes both desired and had more children than men with more traditional ge
Rethinking Gender, Heterosexual Men, and Women's Vulnerability to HIV/Aids
Most HIV prevention literature portrays women as especially vulnerable to HIV infection because of biological susceptibility and men's sexual power and privilege. Conversely, heterosexual men are perceived as active transmitters of HIV but not active agents in prevention. Although the women's vulnerability paradigm was a radical revision of earlier views of women in the epidemic, mounting challenges undermine its current usefulness. We review the…
Virginity Lost, Satisfaction Gained? Physiological and Psychological Sexual Satisfaction at Heterosexual Debut
Despite the literature's focus on (hetero)sexual initiation, little is known about the degree to which young people are satisfied by their first vaginal intercourse experience, let alone the factors that predict satisfaction. This study analyzed data from a cross-sectional survey of 1,986 non-Hispanic White and Black 18- to 25-year-old respondents from four university campuses. Respondents were asked to rate the degree to which their first vagina…
Attitudes Toward Unprotected Intercourse and Risk of Pregnancy among Women Seeking Abortion
Contexts of risk and networks of protection
To generate insights into how migration shapes sexual risk and protection, we interviewed 36 female and 20 male West Indian immigrants attending a public sexually transmitted disease clinic in Brooklyn, New York, between 2004 and 2005. Migration theory suggests that shifts in sexual partnership patterns, bi-directional travel and changes in sexual norms may alter risk. We found evidence of sexual mixing across ethnic groups: a large proportion of…
Sexual Satisfaction and Sexual Health Among University Students in the United States
Despite the World Health Organization's definition of sexual health as a state of well-being, virtually no public health research has examined sexual well-being outcomes, including sexual satisfaction. Emerging evidence suggests that sexual well-being indicators are associated with more classic measures of healthy sexual behaviors. We surveyed 2168 university students in the United States and asked them to rate their physiological and psychologic…
Sexual Satisfaction and Sexual Health Among University Students in the United States
Despite the World Health Organization's definition of sexual health as a state of well-being, virtually no public health research has examined sexual well-being outcomes, including sexual satisfaction. Emerging evidence suggests that sexual well-being indicators are associated with more classic measures of healthy sexual behaviors. We surveyed 2168 university students in the United States and asked them to rate their physiological and psychologic…
Willingness to Have Unprotected Sex
Little is known about people's willingness to engage in sex without protection from unwanted pregnancy. This study surveyed 1,497 women and men at 75 clinics and physician offices across California after their reproductive health care visits in late 2007 and early 2008. When asked if they would have sex without contraception, 30% said definitively that yes, they would have unprotected sex, and 20% indicated they would "sometimes" or "maybe" engag…
Pregnancy Ambivalence and Contraceptive Use Among Young Adults in the United States
The association between men's pregnancy ambivalence and contraceptive practices suggests that women should not remain the sole targets of pregnancy prevention programs. Further research should explore whether clinical interventions that assess and address pregnancy ambivalence for both women and men could lead to improved contraceptive counseling and use
Community understandings of and responses to gender equality and empowerment in Rakai, Uganda
Women's rights and gender empowerment programmes are now part of the international agenda for improving global public health, the benefits of which are well documented. However, the public health community has, yet, to address how people define and understand gender equality and how they enact the process of empowerment in their lives. This study uses safe homes and respect for everyone (SHARE), an anti-violence intervention in rural Rakai, Ugand…
Celebration meets caution
Importance of Relationship Context in HIV Transmission
We present results from life history interviews with 60 young adults from southern Uganda. Using a novel qualitative case-control design, we compared newly HIV-positive cases with HIV-negative controls matched on age, gender, marital status, and place of residence. Relationship context was the most salient theme differentiating cases from controls. Compared with HIV-negative respondents, recent seroconverters described relationships marked by poo…
The Sexual Acceptability of Intrauterine Contraception
Future research and interventions should attend to issues of sexual acceptability: Positive sexual aspects of the IUD could be used promotionally, and counseling about sexual concerns could increase women's willingness to try the method
Medicine (36 works) · Psychology (32 works) · Reproductive Health and Contraception (30 works) · Population (29 works) · Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (27 works) · Environmental health (20 works) · Sociology (20 works) · Demography (18 works) · Reproductive Health and Technologies (17 works) · Family planning (16 works)