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Jennifer S. Barber

Barber’s research is at the intersection of family sociology, demography, and social psychology, with a focus on teen pregnancy. She recently completed a data collection project on 1,000 18- and 19-year-old women, funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The "Relationship Dynamics and Social Life" project included weekly surveys for 2.5 years, along with semi-structured interviews, observation, and administrative data, in order to explore the types of attitudes, relationships, and contraceptive practices that produce early and/or unintended pregnancies. She also currently holds a William T. Grant Foundation Distinguished Fellowship, a mid-career opportunity to immerse herself in a practice setting – she is spending time at a teen pregnancy prevention center in Detroit, as well as Planned Parenthood. She is currently working on proposals to implement a factorial design, coupled with intensive longitudinal data collection, to evaluate interventions aimed at increasing contraceptive use and reducing teen pregnancy.

Funded Research:

Group-Based Trajectory Modeling of Pregnancy Desire in Young Adulthood (PSC Initiatives Fund)

Scholars in Health Policy Research Program (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation)

The Role of Research in Enhancing Family Planning and Pregnancy Prevention for Teens (Grant, WT)

Developmental Idealism in the U.S.: Acceptance among a Sample of Young Women (PSC Initiatives Fund)

The Role of Violence in the Processes Leading to Unintended Pregnancy (PSC Initiatives Fund)

Ideational Influences on Marriage and Childbearing (NICHD)

Young Women's Relationships, Contraception, and Unintended Pregnancy (NICHD)

Intergenerational Influences on Family Formation in a Changing Social Context (NICHD)

Determinants of Marriage and Childbearing Attitudes (NICHD)

Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University

Barber’s research is at the intersection of family sociology, demography, and social psychology, with a focus on teen pregnancy. She recently completed a data collection project on 1,000 18- and 19-year-old women, funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The "Relationship Dynamics and Social Life" project included weekly surveys for 2.5 years, along with semi-structured interviews, observation, and administrative data, in order to explore the types of attitudes, relationships, and contraceptive practices that produce early and/or unintended pregnancies. She also currently holds a William T. Grant Foundation Distinguished Fellowship, a mid-career opportunity to immerse herself in a practice setting – she is spending time at a teen pregnancy prevention center in Detroit, as well as Planned Parenthood. She is currently working on proposals to implement a factorial design, coupled with intensive longitudinal data collection, to evaluate interve...   MORE...

Recent Publications

Journal Articles

Jennings, Elyse Ann, and Jennifer S. Barber. Forthcoming. "The influence of neighbors' family size preference on women's progression to higher parity births." Studies in Family Planning. NIHMSID: NIHMS443182.

Moreau, Caroline, Kelli Hall, James Trussell, and Jennifer S. Barber. Forthcoming. "Effect of Prospectively-Measured Pregnancy Intention Indicators on the Consistency of Contraceptive Use among Young Women." Human Reproduction. PMCID: PMC Journal - In Process.

Miller, Warren, Jennifer S. Barber, and Heather Gatny. 2013. "The effects of ambivalent fertility desires on pregnancy risk in young women in the USA." Population Studies, 67(1): 25-38. PMCID: PMC3570750. DOI. Abstract.

East, P., N. Chien, and Jennifer S. Barber. 2012. "Adolescents' Pregnancy Intentions, Wantedness, and Regret: Cross-Lagged Relations With Mental Health and Harsh Parenting." Journal of Marriage and Family, 74(1): 167-185. PMCID: PMC3337683. DOI. Abstract.

Barber, Jennifer S., Yasamin Kusunoki, and Heather H. Gatny. 2011. "Design and Implementation of an Online Weekly Survey to Study Unintended Pregnancies." Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, 9: 327-334. PMCID: PMC3298188. Abstract. Public Access.

Barber, Jennifer S., and Patricia East. 2011. "Children's Experiences After the Unintended Birth of a Sibling." Demography, 48(1): 101-125. PMCID: PMC3313449. DOI. Abstract.

Axinn, William, Jennifer S. Barber, and Ann E. Biddlecom. 2010. "Social organization and the transition from direct to indirect consumption." Social Science Research, 39(3): 357-368. PMCID: PMC2877213. DOI. Abstract.

Vahratian, Anjel, Jennifer S. Barber, Jean M. Lawrence, and Catherine Kim. 2009. "Family-Planning Practices Among Women With Diabetes and Overweight and Obese Women in the 2002 National Survey for Family Growth." Diabetes Care, 32(6): 1026-1031. PMCID: PMC2681041. DOI. Abstract.

Barber, Jennifer S., and Patricia L. East. 2009. "Home and Parenting Resources Available to Siblings Depending on Their Birth Intention Status." Child Development, 80(3): 921-939. PMCID: PMC3070662. DOI. Abstract.

Chapters

Axinn, William, Dirgha Ghimire, and Jennifer S. Barber. 2008. "The influence of ideational dimensions of social change on family formation in Nepal." In International Family Change: ideational perspectives edited by Rukmalie Jayakody; Arland Thornton; William G Axinn. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum.

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