Available online 11 August 2025, 101960

By examining young adult women with disabilities’(WWD) experiences with pregnancy, scholars have concluded that WWD are more likely to experience unintentional pregnancies compared to women without disabilities. Yet, the reasons for this increase in unintended pregnancy observed among WWD remains unclear. While WWD lack access to sexual health education and reproductive health care, they continue to engage in sexual behaviors and experience pregnancy at similar rates compared to able-bodied women.

This study investigates if sexual health education and contraception use mediate the relationship between disability status and unintended pregnancy for women aged 15–24.

Data come from 2011 to 2019 National Survey of Family Growth and include a sample of 6988 women. The sample is examined descriptively using chi-square tests and t-tests. Mediated path analysis within a structural equation modeling (SEM) framework is used to analyze the relationship between sexual health education, contraception use, disability status, and unintended pregnancy.

WWD were more likely to experience unintended pregnancy, less likely to receive sexual health education, and use less effective forms of contraception. No mediation effect of sexual health education or contraception use on the relationship between disability status and unintended pregnancy was found for this age group.

Sexual health education and contraception use did not mediate the relationship between disability status and unintended pregnancy for young adult women with disabilities. More research is needed to adequately explore the mechanisms leading to increased unintended pregnancy among WWD, particularly across additional age groups.

Unintended pregnancy

Disability

Contraception

Sexual health education

© 2025 The Author. Published by Elsevier Inc.