ATTITUDES TOWARD SEXUAL RESPONSIBILITY AND PARENTING - AN EXPLORATORY-STUDY OF YOUNG URBAN MALES

The self-reported sexual and parenting behaviors and attitudes of 42 u rban males aged 16-22 who had fathered a child were compared with thos e of 49 demographically similar young men who were not fathers when th ey sought medical care al a public health center Use of a questionnair e and structured interviews established that; both groups had similar levels of self-esteem and similar ages at first intercourse. Fathers w ere less likely than the other respondents to feel that parenthood wou ld interfere with their future (71% vs. 92%) or to have a concrete fiv e-year plan (57% vs. 90%). They were more likely to believe that famil y (62% vs. 37%) and peers (68% vs. 40%) looked favorably upon early pa renthood, io have a mother who was a teenage parent (74% vs. 47%) and io state that they lacked an adequate father figure while growing up ( 50% vs. 18%). Fathers also reported more frequent sexual activity and less consistent contraceptive use than did the others.