Lindberg Publishes in Contraception on Declining Response Rates and Emerging Challenges for Studying Sexual and Reproductive Health Using the NSFG
Posted: 2026-10-02 12:40:20 (CSDE Research)
CSDE External Affiliate Laura Lindberg (School of Public Health, Rutgers University) and co-author Isaac Maddow-Zimet (Guttmacher Institute) recently published an article in Contraception titled, “Declining Response Rates and Emerging Challenges for Studying Sexual and Reproductive Health Using the National Survey of Family Growth.” The National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG), a longstanding resource for sexual and reproductive health research, saw a nearly 40-percentage-point drop in response rates in its 2022-2023 round alongside a shift to a predominantly online design. Using a synthetic cohort approach, Lindberg and Maddow-Zimet find that measures expected to remain stable or increase over time — such as maternal education and lifetime contraceptive use — instead showed implausible shifts, suggesting current survey weights inadequately correct for nonresponse bias and that recent respondents are systematically more advantaged than in prior waves. The authors caution against comparing 2022-2023 NSFG data with earlier rounds and call for renewed investment in the survey’s methodology and infrastructure to sustain it as a cornerstone of U.S. reproductive health surveillance. The full article can be found here. Congratulations Dr. Lindberg!
Date: 10/02/2026