Attachment orientations and daily condom use in dating relationships.

This daily experience study examined the roles of attachment orientations and daily relationship satisfaction in shaping daily condom use among college students in dating relationships. Seventy-five participants completed an initial measure of attachment orientation and then reported their relationship satisfaction and condom use each day for 14 consecutive days. The results showed that attachment anxiety was associated with less frequent use of condoms on a daily basis. Daily satisfaction was also associated with a decreased likelihood of using condoms, and this association was stronger for those high in attachment anxiety and mitigated for participants high in attachment avoidance. The associations between attachment orientations and daily condom use remained significant when controlling for important covariates including participant gender, use of another form of birth control, frequency of sex, and knowledge of a partner's sexual history. Implications for sexual risk-taking behaviors and future research using daily diary methods to study sexuality in intimate relationships are discussed.