Research Studies Archives

Snapshot of CCL Volunteers Today

Written by Mike Manhart. Originally published in Family Foundations in 2022. One of the most important reasons for CCL’s 50+ years of service is our volunteers. Few organizations that depend on volunteers can match the strength and commitment of CCL volunteers. Our average length of service for Teaching Couples is 16.8 years and for Promoters…

More Evidence that Periodic Abstinence is Good for Marriage

New research confirms that despite the challenge of periodic abstinence, the use of natural family planning can be beneficial for marital relationships. The study, “Natural Family Planning and Marital Chastity: The Effects of Periodic Abstinence on Marital Relationships” (Linacre Quarterly, June 12, 2020) by Richard J. Fehring, PhD, RN, and Michael D. Manhart, PhD, found…

New Study: Fertility App Users with Formal NFP Education More Likely to Stick to Charting

We know, we know. It sounds like common sense that formal training on NFP makes users more consistent and committed to charting, but it’s important to back up claims with data…and now we have data. CCL’s own Mike Manhart, PhD, conducted the study which analyzed anonymous data from CycleProGo users who gave their permission. CycleProGo…

New Study Connects Adolescent Birth Control use to Depression

For CCL, this is far from news. What we’ve suspected anecdotally for decades is being confirmed time and time again by medical research: the Pill hurts young women.

Study Links the Pill to Depression

If your social media feeds are anything like ours, you may have seen a new study about the pill and depression being posted multiple times yesterday. Understandably so, because it is a pretty big deal since it reveals a true link between the pill and depression in women. Add another side effect to hormonal contraceptives…

Hook-up Culture Not What it Seems

Growing up in Catholic schools, I received a clearly painted picture of what my sexual future should be — abstinence until marriage. In middle school, we learned the Church’s teaching and the basis behind why you should wait for marriage to have sex. Then high school health class introduced us to STDs and unplanned pregnancies,…

Minority Report

From the January/February 2012 issue of Family Foundations: by Holly Rutchik Do you ever feel like you’re not normal? If you practice NFP, you’re in a distinct minority – even among your Catholic peers. Ninety-eight percent of self-identified Catholic women use contraception, according to a recent study by the Guttmacher Institute, the research arm of…

It’s Still a Man’s World

Once again the month of October is upon us with the full press of breast cancer awareness coming from nearly every angle one can imagine. Personally, NFL players wearing pink shoes and gloves is a bit much for me. And again, the contribution oral contraceptives make to increase breast cancer among younger women goes unstated,…

Are Contraceptives Really Cost-effective?

The May 5, 2011 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine ran an article titled “Family Planning as a Cost-Saving Preventive Health Service.” It was authored by pro-contraceptive scientists and Planned Parenthood employees. Written no doubt in response to Congress’s recent discussions to consider withholding federal funding for Planned Parenthood, the article attempts to…

98% of Catholic Women use Contraception

This month the Guttmacher Institute (the research arm of Planned Parenthood) released an analysis of contraceptive use in the United States among women who claim a religious affiliation. It shows that 25% of the women aged 15-45 surveyed in the latest round of the National Survey of Family Growth claim to be Catholic. However, just…