It is popularly held that the low rate of birth control use among sexually-active American teenagers is primarily due to their immaturity. Many teenagers are commencing their sexual careers prior to acquisition of the social and cognitive abilities demanded by responsible contraceptive use. A general decision-making framework can be used to create a systematic developmental theory of fertility control. Recent evidence concerning the importance of three psychosocial developments to effective contraceptive use has concentrated on: (1) the acceptance of one's sexuality and fecundity; (2) the acquisition of interactional communication skills; and (3) the development of logical and "dialectic" cognitive abilities which permit the individual to systematically anticipate behavioral consequences and to apply a balance of logic and emotion to personal situations. Delineating the effects of situational characteristics, such as emotional commitment to partner, revealed a relationship between psychosocial development and contraceptive use as well as differences in the use patterns of male- versus female-dependent methods. (Author)