Even though men play a major role in preventing pregnancy and the transmission of STDs their role in contraceptive decision-making is poorly understood. The Alan Guttmacher Institute therefore conducted a series of focus groups to gain more insight into young unmarried mens attitudes toward and involvement in contraception. Focus group sessions of 4-8 participants each averaging two hours in duration were conducted in October 1993 with 53 male and 23 female sexually experienced individuals aged 16-29 years in the metropolitan Denver area. Blacks whites and Hispanics were represented. The study found that motivation to use contraception is driven by a desire to prevent both pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STD) especially AIDS. Both men and women report high rates of condom use despite general dissatisfaction with the method. Type of method used is dependent upon the type of relationship with condoms used more frequently in casual sexual relationships than in long-term relationships. Further communication between partners about contraception is least likely to occur in casual relationships and in the early stages of a new sexual relationship. Although men and women are aware of the risks of STDs and pregnancy they report occasionally using no method at all or relying upon a method other than condoms with casual partners. Finally most men and women in long-term relationships switch from condoms to other methods once they have had time to assess often by unreliable means their partners risk status.
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Landry et al. (1994) studied this question.