An Examination of Emergency Contraception use by Undergraduate College Students in the Midwest using the Integrated Behavioral Model

The purpose of this study was to determine the factors that influence undergraduate college student use of emergency contraception as well as their level of knowledge and prevalence of using EC. Understanding the factors that influence college student use of emergency contraception will inform development of intervention programs designed to increase its use, which may lead to lower rates of unintended/ unplanned pregnancies in this population. Students at the 11 Midwestern institutions of the Mid-American Conference were surveyed with the help of faculty at each school. A total of 1,553 surveys were completed with a response rate of 98.4%. A small majority of students (63.5%) were female, white (75.3%) and age 18-21 years (80%). Students ranged from freshmen (23.8%) through seniors (13.8%), with sophomores as the largest group (32.6%). The majority were heterosexual (92.1%); not currently in a relationship (44.6%), with 34.1% were in a committed relationship. Participants reported having had sexual intercourse at least once in their lifetime (78.9%) with 8.4% of sexually active students having experienced an unintended/unplanned pregnancy. Students who have used emergency contraception in the last 12 months made up 18.1% of the students who also reported having had sexual intercourse at least once. Knowledge of emergency contraception was not high in this group. Knowledge was compared to emergency contraceptive use. As knowledge increased, use of EC increased; as use of EC increased. The Integrated Behavioral Model was used to investigate intention to use emergency contraception and predicted 50% of the variance in intention to use emergency contraceptives. Each construct contributed a portion of variance and could be used in any future interventions to increase its use and decrease unintended/unplanned pregnancies for college students.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy

Level thesis:degree_level

doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Health Education

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Toledo

Year dc:date

2013

Author dc:creator

• Wohlwend, Jennifer J.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Glassman, Tavis

• Health
• emergency contraception
• college students
• Integrated Behavioral Model

Statement dc:rights

• unrestricted
• This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1355423254

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:etd.ohiolink.edu:toledo1355423254