Fig. 3.

Salivary progesterone response to cold pressor stress during the active and inactive hormonal contraceptive phases within different progestin generations. The three-way phase x time × generation interaction was not significant. However, there was a two-way phase × generation interaction. Women using formulations containing first-generation progestins showed significantly lower overall progesterone levels during the inactive phase. There also was significant time × generation interaction when looking only at the inactive phase where only women using formulations containing second-generation progestins showed a significant progesterone response to stress. This was not observed in women using formulations containing first- or third-generation progestins. *p < .05.