Association between relationship characteristics, sexual health attitudes, and dual contraceptive use among young adult college students aged 18–24

Abstract

Objective Determine the relationship characteristics, sexual health attitudes, and demographic factors associated with dual contraceptive use among college students. Participants: September–October 2018 via campus email, we recruited College of Public Health students attending a large, urban, public university (N = 424). Methods: Respondents completed a cross-sectional, Web-based sexual health questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were calculated. Multiple logistic regression models were run to determine the association between relationship characteristics, pregnancy and condom attitudes, demographics, and dual use the last time having sex. Results: In independent models, one-unit increase in trust (aOR = 0.982; 95% CI: 0.966–0.998) and commitment score (aOR = 0.987, 95% CI: 0.976–0.999) was inversely associated with dual use while sex with a casual date/acquaintance (aOR = 3.149; 95% CI: 1.550–6.397) was positively associated. In a fully adjusted model for all correlates, only trust score was significant (aOR = 0.982; 95% CI: 0.966, 0.998). Conclusions: Emotion-based constructs may be more influential on dual use behaviors than discrete relationship factors.

Keywords:

• dual contraceptive use
• partner label
• partner trust
• sexual behavior

Acknowledgements

Thank you to Dr. Levent Dumenci for feedback on this paper. This work was partially supported by the Temple University College of Public Health [Visionary Research Fund, Fall 2017] and the Temple University Graduate School [Dissertation Completion Grant, Spring 2019].

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of the United States and received approval from the Institutional Review Board of Temple University.