Answer:
Much attention has been focused on efforts to reduce unintended pregnancy by improving contraceptive use among high-risk women; however, there is limited information to guide interventions to engage young men in contraceptive decision-making. We conducted focus groups of young men, ages 19–26, from diverse racial backgrounds from low-income communities in the San Francisco Bay Area to examine social norms about sexual relationships and how they impact on contraceptive use. The data were analysed using content analysis. A range of relationships were described, however casual relationships predominated. While young men expressed strong desires to avoid pregnancy in casual relationships, the unpredictable nature of relationships, together with low communication and regard for the women involved, made stressing consistent contraceptive use among partners unlikely. The themes expressed by these young men about sex and behaviour in different relationships illustrate a spectrum of decision-making dilemmas and illustrate the inherent difficulty in fully engaging young men in contraceptive decision-making. A strategy is needed to address relationship values, dynamics, and condom use beyond STI prevention frameworks, and young women’s ability to make appropriate contraceptive choices in light of the inherent difficulties and uncertainty associated with casual relationships.
Keywords: Relationships, young men, contraception, decision making, USA
Optimal reproductive health means that women and men have the capability to reproduce and the freedom to decide if, when, and how often to do so, in addition to having a satisfying and safe sex life (United Nations 1994). Over the last 15 years, unintended pregnancy rates in the USA overall have remained essentially unchanged at approximately half of all pregnancies, serving as an important marker of suboptimal reproductive health status (Finer and Henshaw 2006). Most of programmatic and research attention has focused on women since they are at risk of unintended pregnancy. With the exception of male condoms and withdrawal, reversible contraceptive methods are used by women (Darroch 2008). Despite the limited technology to control their fertility, men play both an indirect and direct role in sexual and contraceptive decision-making. To address the problem of unintended pregnancy, it is critical to take into account how men think about and behave in sexual relationships and how they influence contraceptive decision-making.
Explanation:
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