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To determine if powerlessness is an intervening variable influencing family size contraceptive practice and/or method selection a 5-item scale was administered to 2 samples of ever-married women ages 15-44: Guamanians surveyed in islandwide public health clinics and U.S. white and black women interviewed at home in low-income census tracts of 17 cities. Female powerlessness directly correlated with parity in all but U.S. black women when controlled for age education husbands occupation and family income. Difference in powerlessness failed to appear between contraceptive users and nonusers or among users of different methods and no method. Pregnancy failed to increase powerlessness and there was no evidence that female powerlessness results in high fertility through nonuse of contraception. Data support the hypothesis that high parity generates female powerlessness in some populations.
Morris et al. (Fri,) studied this question.