Preventing unplanned pregnancies among married couples: are services for only the wife sufficient?

Unplanned pregnancies among married couples in the United States remains an important problem today. The effects of predisposing factors (conceptualized according to the Luker theory of contraceptive risk taking) on use of effective contraceptive methods and on the occurrence of an unplanned pregnancy were examined among a sample of 150 white married couples who did not desire a(nother) child within 2 years. The effects of husbands' predisposing factors on both dependent variables were highly significant, either directly or through interaction with their wives. The findings demonstrate the need for continued research on wife and husband effects on reproductive behaviors and outcomes.