Young Unmarried Men and Women Discuss Men's Role in Contraceptive Practice.

Focus groups with 76 sexually experienced young men and women living in the Denver area in 1993 explored the reasons unmarried men do or do not involve themselves in contraceptive practice. Motivation to use contraceptives is driven by a desire to prevent both pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), particularly AIDS. Despite dissatisfaction with the condom, both men and women report high rates of condom use. The method used, however, is dependent on the type of relationship involved, with condoms used more frequently in casual sexual relationships than in long-term relationships. Communication between partners about contraception is least likely to occur in casual relationships and in the early stages of a new sexual relationship. Despite awareness of the risks of STDs and pregnancy, both men and women report that they occasionally use no method at all or rely on a method other than condoms with casual partners. Most men and women in long-term relationships switch from condoms to other methods on ce they have had time to assess, often by unreliable means, their partner's risk status.

(Family Planning Perspectives, 26:222-227, 1994)

At first intercourse, more than half of adolescent women rely on their partner to use a condom (47%) or withdrawal (8%) as a contraceptive method. (1) On a regular basis, more than one-fourth of all women using contraceptives rely on methods that require their partner's cooperation--15% use the condom, 12% vasectomy, 2% withdrawal and 2% use periodic abstinence. (2) Condoms are also used in conjunction with female-based contraceptive methods to prevent sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). (3) The recent rise in contraceptive use has been associated with an increase in condom use among men. (4)

Despite the critical part that men play in preventing pregnancy and STDs, their role in contraceptive decision-making is poorly understood. (5) To gain more insight into young, unmarried men's attitudes toward and involvement in contraception, The Alan Guttmacher Institute conducted a series of focus groups. Most of the groups were composed of men, but some were also conducted with women to obtain their perspective on male involvement. The focus groups addressed the following questions: How do young men define their involvement in contraception and disease prevention? How consistent are their attitudes about contraceptives with their behavior? To what extent do they discuss contraceptives with their sexual partners?

Methodology

A focus-group format was used to explore broadly how young men and women define men's role in contraception and why they do or do not use a method. Because focus groups are not representative of the general population and because participants may give socially desirable responses, the results of the study should be interpreted cautiously. Participants were drawn from an existing list of households in metropolitan Denver; at least one person in each household had expressed an interest in participating in a focus group. The list was compiled and maintained by Fieldwork Denver, a market research firm that also provided the facilities for conducting the focus groups.

Individuals in these households were eligible for the study if they had not participated in a focus group in the six months prior to selection; more than 75% had never participated in a focus group. Since the objective of the study was to learn about the dynamics of contraceptive use among young heterosexual men and women at high risk of being involved in an unintended pregnancy or of contracting an STD, married or separated respondents were excluded from the study. Potential participants--young men aged 16-29 and women aged 20-29--were asked to identify their race and ethnicity. To select heterosexual men and women who were sexually experienced, the interviewers also asked respondents if they had ever used a birth-control method, such as "pulling out," condoms or the pill with a partner of the opposite sex, or if they had ever had sex but did not use a method.