Premarital Contraceptives Usage among Male and Female Adolescents

Bibliographic Data

ID4393744
AuthorsJoseph P Hornick, Louise Doran, Susan Heffernan Crawford
Year1979
Volume28
Issue2
Pages181
Publication date1979-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Family Coordinator (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0014-7214 • E-ISSN: 2325-5501
PublisherJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/581673
OpenAlexW119687944
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited6

144 female and 100 male high school and university students answered questionnaires on sexual attitudes and behavior contraceptive usage and background characteristics. All subjects were sexually active. The data were analyzed by a multivariate analysis method that chooses the best predictors for contraceptive usage from a set of independent variables (in this case 24 suggested by previous literature). Female contraceptive use was influenced most strongly by internal factors such as commitment (dating status) conditions of love (having been in love more than once previously) and high self-esteem. The only external factor significant for contraceptive use among females was social class; users were higher class. In contrast male contraceptive use was predicted entirely by external factors such as age at first date fathers permissiveness and mothers permissiveness. Practical implications are that the first step in dealing with females who are sexually active but tend not to use contraceptives is to help them define and accept themselves as sexual beings while the males who do not use contraceptives have already defined themselves sexually and are indifferent to contraceptive use regarding it as the females problem. Because this exploitative attitude may be reinforced in their homes they present more of a challenge to family planning practitioners

Developmental psychology · Sociology · Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health · Demography · Male Reproductive Health Studies · Psychology · Reproductive Health and Contraception

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