{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,6]],"date-time":"2026-10-06T17:55:07Z","timestamp":1791309307214,"version":"4.3.1"},"reference-count":58,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,6]],"date-time":"2026-10-06T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1791244800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000038","name":"Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["Canada Graduate Scholarship-Doctoral"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Canada Graduate Scholarship-Doctoral"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000038","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000038","name":"Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["Postdoctoral Fellowship"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Postdoctoral Fellowship"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000038","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000038","name":"Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["Discovery Grant (2019\u201304071)"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Discovery Grant (2019\u201304071)"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000038","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Oral contraceptives (OCs) are composed of artificial estrogen (ethinyl-estradiol) and\/or progesterone (progestin), which can attach to receptors in the brain and potentially influence cognition. One prior study suggested that OC use was associated with increased mind-wandering \u2013 implying that OC use was associated with detriments to attention. In contrast, two subsequent well-powered conceptual replications of this initial finding revealed little evidence that OC use was related to increases in inattentiveness (including mind-wandering). However, these later studies collapsed across different OC formulations, which may obscure effects specific to particular formulations. In the present study, we investigated the possibility that OC formulation might differentially relate to attention-related traits. To do this, we collected trait-level reports of the tendency to experience attention related errors, attention lapses, spontaneous and deliberate mind-wandering, boredom, and flow in undergraduate females using OCs, and we collected the brand of OC used from which it was possible to derive the formulation. OC formulations differed in ethinyl-estradiol dose, progestin dose, dosing schedule, hormonal activity (or potency), and the type (or \u2018generation\u2019) of progestin used. We found no evidence that different OC formulations were related to differences in attention-related traits, which suggests that OC users can be treated as a homogenous group when examining trait-level attention. Comparisons of OC users (collapsing across formulation) to non-users again revealed no significant differences in trait-level attention.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0359652","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,6]],"date-time":"2026-10-06T17:36:43Z","timestamp":1791308203000},"page":"e0359652","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Revisiting the relation between oral contraceptive use and attentional engagement in everyday life: The role of formulation"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"21","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7908-9401","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Alyssa C.","family":"Smith","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Guelph","place":["Guelph, Canada"],"department":["Department of Psychology"]},{"name":"University of Waterloo","place":["Waterloo, Canada"],"department":["Department of Psychology"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Daniel","family":"Smilek","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Waterloo","place":["Waterloo, Canada"],"department":["Department of Psychology"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,6]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0359652.ref001","author":"United Nations","year":"2019"},{"key":"pone.0359652.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"101040","DOI":"10.1016\/j.yfrne.2022.101040","article-title":"Oral contraceptives in the central nervous system: Basic pharmacology, methodological considerations, and current state of the field","volume":"68","author":"E Hampson","year":"2023","journal-title":"Front Neuroendocrinol"},{"key":"pone.0359652.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"135849","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neulet.2021.135849","article-title":"Sex neurosteroids: Hormones made by the brain for the brain","volume":"753","author":"L Fester","year":"2021","journal-title":"Neurosci Lett"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0359652.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"463","DOI":"10.1081\/ERC-120016823","article-title":"Synthesis, regulation, and function of neurosteroids","volume":"28","author":"SH Mellon","year":"2002","journal-title":"Endocr Res"},{"key":"pone.0359652.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"605","DOI":"10.1016\/S0039-128X(00)00173-2","article-title":"Progesterone as a neuroactive neurosteroid, with special reference to the effect of progesterone on myelination","volume":"65","author":"E Baulieu","year":"2000","journal-title":"Steroids"},{"key":"pone.0359652.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"31","DOI":"10.1016\/j.mce.2008.04.017","article-title":"Estrogen synthesis in the brain--role in synaptic plasticity and memory","volume":"290","author":"Y Hojo","year":"2008","journal-title":"Mol Cell Endocrinol"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0359652.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"111","DOI":"10.1016\/j.contraception.2014.03.015","article-title":"Impact of oral contraceptives on cognition","volume":"90","author":"AM Warren","year":"2014","journal-title":"Contraception"},{"key":"pone.0359652.ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"101052","DOI":"10.1016\/j.yfrne.2022.101052","article-title":"Oral contraceptives and cognition: A systematic review","volume":"69","author":"C Gurvich","year":"2023","journal-title":"Front Neuroendocrinol"},{"key":"pone.0359652.ref009","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"101037","DOI":"10.1016\/j.yfrne.2022.101037","article-title":"Hormonal contraceptive influences on cognition and psychopathology: Past methods, present inferences, and future directions","volume":"67","author":"AM Beltz","year":"2022","journal-title":"Front Neuroendocrinol"},{"key":"pone.0359652.ref010","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"121","DOI":"10.1016\/j.psyneuen.2018.11.005","article-title":"Increased frequency of mind wandering in healthy women using oral contraceptives","volume":"101","author":"C Raymond","year":"2019","journal-title":"Psychoneuroendocrinology"},{"key":"pone.0359652.ref011","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1147515","DOI":"10.3389\/fnhum.2023.1147515","article-title":"Examining the relation between oral contraceptive use and attentional engagement in everyday life","volume":"17","author":"AC Smith","year":"2023","journal-title":"Front Hum Neurosci"},{"key":"pone.0359652.ref012","unstructured":"Smith AC, Marty-Dugas J, Smilek D. 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