Contraceptive behavior and efficacy: the influence of illusion of fertility control and adult attachment tendencies.

Abstract

College students' illusions regarding their vulnerability to risks related to sexual intercourse affect their contraceptive behavior. The authors explored the influence of the illusion of fertility control and attachment tendencies upon contraceptive behavior among 141 male and 251 female self-selected undergraduate students at a small Midwestern university during fall 1993 and spring 1994 semesters. The illusion of fertility control scale (IFCS) was designed to measure the extent to which aspects of the situation present at last intercourse foster an illusion of fertility control. The IFCS attempts to measure the degree to which people believe that they completely control their own fertility, when they are actually taking some degree of fertility risk. 79% of the students were aged 16-24, with the rest older, 90.56% are White, 6.89% Black, 76.3% never-married, 16.6% currently married, and 18.6% had children. Study findings are based upon the analysis of responses from those sexually experienced, never-married, and aged 16-24 years. Multiple regression analyses determined that illusion of fertility control and attachment style were related to contraception, and that 2 subscales of the IFCS were related to contraception. More precisely, a belief in bodily control was associated with less effective current contraceptive use. Females who felt more independence from their partners in making sexual decisions were characterized by a higher contraceptive failure rate. Furthermore, people with a dismissing attachment style reported a history of less reliable contraception.