Ambivalence, communication and past use: Understanding what influences women's intentions to use contraceptives

Abstract

Unintended pregnancy among women in the 18-30 age group is a public health concern. The Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM) provides a framework for exploring how women's perceptions of threat, efficacy, and fear influence intentions to use contraceptives. Past use and communication with best friends and partners were also considered. A telephone survey of 18-30-year-old women (N = 599) was completed. After univariate and bivariate analyses were conducted, the variables were entered into a hierarchal, multi-variate linear regression with three steps consistent with the EPPM to predict behavioral intention. The first step included the demographic variables of relationship status and income. The constructs for the EPPM were entered into step 2. Step 3 contained the fear measure. The model for the third step was significant, F(10,471) = 36.40, p < 0.001 and the variance explained by this complete model was 0.42. Results suggest that perceived severity of the consequences of an unintended pregnancy (p < 0.01), communication with friends (p < 0.01) and last sexual partner (p < 0.05), relationship status (p < 0.01), and past use (p < 0.001) were associated with women's intentions to use contraceptives. A woman's perception of the severity was related to her intention to use contraceptives. Half of the women (50.3%) reported ambivalence about the severity of an unintended pregnancy. In our study, talking with their last sexual partner had a positive effect on intentions to use contraceptives, while talking with friends influenced intentions in a negative direction. These results reconfirm the need for public health practitioners and health care providers to consider level of ambivalence toward unintended pregnancy, communication with partner, and relationship status when trying to improve women's contraceptive behaviors. Implications for effective communication interventions are discussed.

Determinants of emergency contraception non-use among women in unplanned or ambivalent pregnancies

“…These findings are compared to other studies (7,18,19) in which married women or women who lived with partners were less likely to use contraceptive methods than single women and women who did not live with partners, possibly because the former feel that life circumstances are favorable for pregnancy, even when not expected. It is important to point out that not only cohabiting with a partner, but also reproductive intentions of the partners, can mold contraceptive practices (20)(21) .…”

“…These women presented a 3.52 odds of not employing EC to prevent the ongoing pregnancy than women who had already used it, as described elsewhere (19,28,29) . This may be related to the fact that women who successfully experienced using EC may be more motivated to resort to this method again in case they need.…”

Psychological Predictors of Intention to Deliver Vaginally through the Extended Parallel Process Model: A Mixed-Method Approach in Pregnant Iranian Women

“…17 As mentioned above, the participants' perceptions of threats and efficacy as the psychological elements were assessed using EPPM to predict their intention towards normal childbirth. Although this model has been used in various health domains, [18][19][20][21][22] it is the first time it has been applied to predict pregnant women' s intention to plan the mode of birth.…”

The association of attitudes about contraceptives with contraceptive use in a random sample of Colorado women

“…We address this gap in the research by assessing associations of attitudinal components of contraception, perceived severity of an unintended pregnancy (Campo, Askelson, Spies, & Losch, 2012), and external barriers to contraceptive use (Peipert et al, 2012; Secura, Allsworth, Madden, Mullersman, & Peipert, 2010) with contraceptive behavior. Specific attitudinal components included are stigma and misinformation about contraceptives (Banker et al, 2010; Berntson et al, 2014; James-Hawkins, 2015a), partner communication about contraceptives (Cox, Posner, & Sangi-Haghpeykar, 2010; Davies et al, 2006; James-Hawkins, 2015a), and planning to use contraceptives (Wilder et al, 2009).…”