The purpose of this study was twofold. First, this study sought to explore, retrospectively, the development of contraceptive behavior patterns by college women during their adolescent years. The second purpose was to examine the role of self-efficacy in the development of effective contraceptive behavior. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 60 never married sexually active college females 18 to 22 years of age. During the course of the interview, subjects were guided through a description of relationships in which they were sexually active. This allowed the interviewer to elicit information regarding contraceptive behavior in each relationship and explanations for the behavior. In addition, each subject completed a contraceptive self-efficacy questionnaire for both her first and most recent sexual partner
