Abstract
Where is the disconnection: A mediated-moderation model of birth control use in South Carolina college students in a post-roe world
Megan Austin, MPH, PhD1, Tremaine Sails-Dunbar, M.Div2, Emily Townsend, MPH3 and Lucy Ingram3
(1)Columbia, SC, (2)University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, (3)University of Georgia, Athens, GA
APHA 2024 Annual Meeting and Expo
Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark decision allowing abortion in the United States, was overturned in June 2022 (Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization), spurring debates about the future of sexual and reproductive health and rights. As such, restrictions to safe, legal abortions could have a major impact on the sexual health of college students who are at risk for adverse sexual health outcomes due to behaviors that can lead to unintended pregnancy. A descriptive study of South Carolina college students identified significant changes in knowledge of the overturning of Roe v. Wade based on the birth control method participants used and their political affiliation. Despite the changes in knowledge, and similar changes in attitudes towards behavior change, no significant behavior change of contraceptive use was identified as a result of the Roe v. Wade overturning.
A Qualtrics survey was developed to assess sexual behavior, contraceptive use, knowledge about and attitudes toward the Dobbs decision, intention to change behavior, and behavior change due to the overturning. Eligibility criteria included: age 18 years or older, a South Carolina college student, and ability to read and comprehend English. For the model, our predictor variable was knowledge, outcome variable was action, mediator was intention, and moderators were gender, being raised in South Carolina, relationship status, and religious status.
The correlation between knowledge, intention, and action was low, indicating additional factors at play in the relationship between knowledge and action. Results from the additional variables analyzed in the mediated-moderation analysis will be discussed.
Public health or related public policy Public health or related research