Dr. Metee Comkornruecha, an adolescent medicine specialist at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami, who was not involved in the study, said the increase in emergency contraception use among sexually active teens was likely due mainly to an increase in awareness and education about this form of contraception.

It’s a little too early to know whether the 2013 FDA ruling played a role in the rise in teen use of emergency contraception, Comkornruecha said.

The implications of the new findings are mixed, he said.

“I think it’s good that there are more young women using this emergency contraception,” given that teen pregnancy is linked with a number of negative consequences, including not finishing high school and having less financial stability, Comkornruecha said.