Sex knowledge, birth control, and marital attitudes of a rural population

Most human research in rural areas has been problem‐oriented, focused on poverty, health, lack of education, and inadequate housing. This study deals with a random sample of rural Montanans who fit a pattern of relative affluence and education. Sex knowledge of rural Montanans, their attitudes toward birth control, their marriage role expectations, and marital communication were investigated. Respondents were 134 males and 198 females aged 18 or older who lived in 12 randomly selected counties, repres enting all six geographic regions of the state. The survey instrument included data related to personal background, birth control attitudes, sex knowledge, marriage role expecta tions, and marital communication. As age decreased, attitudes toward birth control were more favorable and sex knowledge was more extensive. Favorable attitudes toward birth control were also associated with more years of education, smaller family size, and better marital communication. Mean scores for the sample revealed generally favorable attitudes toward birth control, rather strong equalitarian views of marriage roles, and a relatively high level of marital communi cation. A majority responded correctly to more than half of the items on thesex knowledge inventory, indicating a fair, but by no means extensive, grasp of information relating to human reproduction.