Contraceptive Use among Female College Students

Unintended pregnancy is a social issue that severely jeopardizes the quality of life for parents and their children. It is estimated that close to 60% of all pregnancies and 39% of live births are unintended. The highest rate of unintended pregnancies occurs in blacks, women less than 20 years of age, and women with less than a high school education . Women spend a large majority of their lives trying to avoid pregnancy. To achieve this goal, women must have access to safe, effective, and affordable contraceptive methods. However many women avoid contraception due to the fear of side effects, safety concerns, and the inconvenience of obtaining/using contraceptives. With the alarming number of unintended pregnancies that occur each year, there is a need to examine factors related to lack of contraceptive use among sexually active women. The purpose of this study was to examine contraceptive attitudes and demographic characteristics of contraceptive users among female college students. Students were grouped into 3 contraceptive groups i.e. those who use contraceptives consistently, intermittently, or not at all. The convenience sample consisted of 120 female college students who attended a large urban private university and were sexually active 3 months prior to data collection. The mean age of the sample was 24.2 years. The sample was diverse, consisting of 45% Blacks, 19.2% White, 14.2% Hispanic, 13.3% Asian, 4.2% multiracial, and 4.2% other. Participants completed the Contraceptive Attitude Scale, contraceptive use tool, and demographic tool. Results revealed that the five most preferred methods of contraception for all participants were the male condom (48.2%), pill (22.4%), withdrawal (10.6%), patch (4.7%), and Depo Provera (4.1%). Among the 3 contraceptive groups, 54.2% were uninterrupted contraceptive users, 25.8% were intermittent users, 16.7% were nonusers, and 3.3% did not reveal their frequency of contraceptive use. There was no significant difference in demographic characteristics for age, race, marital status, years of college education and income between the 3 contraceptive groups. Most participants had a positive attitude about contraceptives. Women with higher contraceptive attitude scores were significantly more likely to be consistent contraceptive users. Scores on the contraceptive attitude scale did not vary by age, race, marital status, or socioeconomic status. Uninterrupted contraceptive users had significantly higher mean contraceptive attitude scores than intermittent users and nonusers. Since lack of contraceptive use remains the leading cause of unintended pregnancies, interventions to increase contraceptive use should focus on helping women to develop a positive attitude about contraception.