How do young people’s attitudes about whether condoms reduce pleasure shape condom practices—and, in turn, exposure to STIs and unintended pregnancy? Using a nationally representative sample of 2,328 heterosexually-active, unmarried 15–24 year-olds, we documented multivariate associations with condom non-use at last sexual episode. For both young men and women, pleasure-related attitudes were more strongly associated with lack of condom use than all socio-demographic or sexual history factors. Research and interventions should consistently assess and address young people’s attitudes about how condoms affect pleasure.

Objectives Use of withdrawal (coitus interruptus) has consequences for reproductive health, but few nationally representative studies exist. We 1) examined patterns of withdrawal among 15–24 year-old women men, and 2) explored withdrawal’s associations with socio-demographic, psychological, and sexual factors. Study design Using data from the 2006–10 National Survey of Family Growth, we assessed reports of any and only withdrawal use at last sexual episode in the last month from 3,517 sexually active 15–24 year-old women and men at risk of unintended pregnancy. Logistic regression documented associations with withdrawal. Results 14% of young women and 17% of young men reported any use of withdrawal at last sex; 7% and 6% respectively reported only use of withdrawal. Though associated with few socio-demographic factors, withdrawal was significantly linked with pregnancy- and condom attitudes. In regression models, compared to those who said they would be upset if they discovered they were pregnant, young women who said they would be pleased about a pregnancy were 2.2–2.6 times as likely to have used any/only withdrawal (p<0.01). For both women and men, those who felt that condoms were likely to diminish sexual pleasure were more likely to have used any/only withdrawal (ORs=1.8–2.6, p<0.05). Conclusions A greater proportion of young adults used withdrawal in conjunction with other methods than by itself. The psychological and sexual variables of orientation toward pregnancy and attitudes about condoms and pleasure were more strongly linked with withdrawal practices than most socio-demographic variables.

is a key marker of status in contemporary China. Urban status confers large economic benefits such as preferential access to good schools, prestigious occupations, and state-subsidized welfare benefits. As such, trends in intermarriage convey important but underappreciated information about social mobility in China. This article examines trends in intermarriage between 1958 and 2008. We find that intermarriage is surprisingly common and has grown steadily since 1985. Hypotheses derived from Western contexts do little to explain this trend. Increased education, economic inequality, and availability each fail to explain trends as predicted in prior work. A common hypothesis is that increased inequality should reduce intermarriage by making it more costly to "marry down." We find the opposite-increasing inequality is associated with increasing intermarriage, particularly between urban men and rural women, which is consistent with the hypothesis that the costs of marrying down may be outweighed by the incentives to marry up in this context. Our results also suggest conversion plays a key role in increased intermarriage. These findings highlight the uniqueness of the Chinese context and suggest that standard hypotheses about assortative mating may not be applicable in contexts with strong state-controlled social boundaries.

Objective To compare use of contraceptive methods at last heterosexual intercourse among 15–44 year-old women and men at risk of unintended pregnancy in the United States. Study Design We employed data from the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) 2006–2013. We considered women and men to be at-risk of unintended pregnancy if they had intercourse in the last month, regardless of contraceptive use, and if they or their partner had the ability to get pregnant and neither was trying to become pregnant. We categorized multiple method use according to the most effective method reported. To explore the contributions of age and relationship status to differences in reporting between women and men, we conducted sensitivity analyses, limiting age to 25–44 years and union status to married and cohabiting. Results Distributions of methods used at last intercourse differed for women and men. A positive difference reflects higher reporting among women, while a negative difference reflects higher reporting among men. Percentage-point differences were largest for reported use of no method (−7.6) and female sterilization (+7.4), each p<0.001. These differences persisted even when the sample was restricted by age and relationship status. Conclusion Estimates of men’s contraceptive use may be subject to underreporting of their partners’ method use, particularly when their female partner is sterilized. Neither older age nor married and cohabiting relationship status accounted for the observed differences. Further research is needed to explore the factors underlying reporting differences between women and men with respect to female sterilization and use of no method.