The influential concept of “sexual fluidity” originates from developmental psychologist Lisa Diamond’s effort to convey best medical understandings of bisexuality (Diamond 2008a, b). Sexual fluidity is now the paradigmatic way of conceptualizing young women’s non-heterosexuality acro the social sciences. The model posits that ladies need both a well balanced underlying orientation and a varying convenience of fluidity, which means that some women is a lot more responsive to contexts and relations that enable same-sex sexual feelings, that might be short-lasting or suffering (Diamond 2008a, b). Sexualities scholars also have driven attention to the trend of “straight girls kiing,” wherein straight-identified young women “hook upwards,” typically relating to college party customs, when it comes to titillation of men (Hamilton 2007; Rupp and Taylor 2010). These ideas from the sexualities literature advise our very own measurement and analytical decisions.

How might non-heterosexual women’s personal partnerships and birth control practices change from those of her heterosexual peers?

The theoretical perform of sexuality professionals acro the personal sciences, described earlier on, provides some context for the noticeable contradiction that non-heterosexual ladies have reached better chance of pregnancy. Studies have suggested these particular people need past sexual debut (Coker et al. 2010), even more male intimate associates and more female sexual lovers (Coker et al. 2010; Tornello et al. 2014), and a lot more constant sex with male associates (Saewyc et al. 1999). Within study, we incorporate 30 several months of once a week facts examine the affairs of non-heterosexual and heterosexual young women. We hypothesize that non-heterosexual females will document a greater number of relationships and much more total amount of time in affairs since they may see men and women as poible couples.

Given all of our hypothesis that non-heterosexual ladies will differ in their interactions, we furthermore anticipate them to vary in their birth control use because connection context forecasts contraception. Connection type and length of time is pertaining to major, stability, and intimate regularity (Schwartz et al. 2013); playing even more “dating tasks” with a sexual mate is actually aociated with deeper birth control utilize (Pearson and Wilkinson 2013); and young adults with an increase of sexual interactions become le expected to report making use of contraception consistently (Manlove et al. 2007). Reasonably few studies have examined non-heterosexual women’s contraceptive actions directly; but non-heterosexual women’s elevated risk of unintended pregnancy provides implicit proof birth control nonuse or contradictory incorporate.

We propose a few poible explanations for nonuse or inconsistent utilize: reduced expectation of sexual intercourse with people, le frequent sex with guys, or intellectual dionance when it comes to their unique contraceptive needs.

Although a lot of non-heterosexual ladies posses at the least unexpected intercourse with men (Chandra et al. 2011; Copen et al. 2016), they might expect to do so le usually than their own heterosexual alternatives. For heterosexual females, rare sex was a known risk factor for nonuse of contraception and dependence on le-effective strategies (Frost et al. 2007). Occasional sex may forecast non-heterosexual women’s contraceptive attitude for comparable explanations. Cases of intercourse may possibly not be planned, and females may well not already be using a hormonal strategy or need condoms available to you. Though sexual intercourse try in the pipeline, people might not believe that the effort and expenses of employing a hormonal technique is rationalized if intercourse is actually occasional. Finally, if non-heterosexual lady enjoy cognitive dionance around their particular sexual positioning and contraceptive planning desires, they might be le likely to need a hormonal method or hold condoms, resulting in le as a whole birth control usage and le consistent birth control usage.

Data on contraceptive incorporate among non-heterosexual female generally treats all of them as you analytic classification. But the scientific studies recognize among intimate minority young women has proposed that systems for differences in contraceptive conduct (e.g., regularity and expectation of sexual intercourse) may vary within this group. For instance, in research of women’s HIV issues conduct, respondents who’re “not certain” of these sexual character include le likely than lesbian or bisexual women to use condoms when creating intercourse with men (Goodenow et al. 2008). Within the couple of reports to take into account non-heterosexual women’s use of hormone strategies, Charlton and colleagues (2013) indicated that lesbians are le expected to has actually used hormone contraception, whereas additional intimate minority girls (bisexual women, mostly heterosexual females, and heterosexually determined girls reporting same-sex experiences) will bring ever utilized a hormonal process. Neverthele, all sexual minority women in their particular study stay at better danger of pregnancy than heterosexual people. Put differently, non-heterosexual women’s deeper probability of attempting a hormonal birth control approach is likely to be negated by some mixture of more regular intercourse or riskier birth control behaviors perhaps not captured within these facts: nonuse of contraception, inconsistent usage, or reliance on nonhormonal methods. A top proportion of unintended pregnancies happen among women who submit some contraceptive utilize across period of conception (better and Henshaw 2006). Therefore, these dimensions of contraceptive behavior include extremely consequential for maternity possibility however is infamously hard to evaluate and hardly ever accessible to review professionals.

In today’s research, we utilize unique longitudinal data (weekly observations over a period of 30 period) that allow you available numerous proportions of contraceptive incorporate among both heterosexual and non-heterosexual people. We recognize a heterogeneous gang of non-heterosexual people (including lesbian and bisexual-identified ladies, “straight girls kiing,” and straight-identified females enacting sexual fluidity). We contrast these girls with entirely heterosexual people, therefore additionally explore distinctions among non-heterosexual females. We hypothesize that both sets of non-heterosexual people uses contraception ce usually and le consistently than heterosexual people, is le expected to incorporate hormone means as a whole, and additionally be le more likely to need a dual approach (a hormonal strategy with condoms).

Data and Methods