Anticipated regret and precautionary sexual behavior

This study investigated the impact of anticipated regret on precautionary sexual behavior. 317 female and 134 male 18-48 yr old college students completed questionnaires assessing behavioral expectations regarding casual sexual behavior, anticipated regret, perceived behavioral control, attitudes, self-reported behavior, and subjective norms. Results show that anticipated regret predicts a significant and independent proportion of variance in expectations about future contraceptive behavior. A model combining attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and anticipated regret explained 65% of the variance in behavioral expectations. Behavioral expectations explained 34% of the variance in contraceptive behavior of respondents who had casual sex in the 4 wks following the 1st session of the study. Implications for understanding of precautionary sexual behavior and for campaigns aiming to increase safer sexual practices are discussed.