YOUNG UNMARRIED MEN AND WOMEN DISCUSS MENS 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 once they have had time to assess, often by unreliable means, their partner's risk status.