Adolescents and condoms. Associations of beliefs with intentions to use
S. M. Kegeles, N. E. Adler and C. E. Irwin Jr
Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco 94105.
Sexually active adolescents should use condoms to prevent the transmission
of sexually transmitted diseases, including human immunodeficiency virus.
This study examined, among male and female adolescents, which beliefs about
condoms are associated with intentions to use them if they have coitus in
the next year. Teenagers attending adolescent health clinics completed
self-administered surveys. Although most adolescents knew that condoms
prevent sexually transmitted diseases, an increasing belief in the
preventive effects of condoms was not associated with an increased
motivation to use them. Instead, other immediate, short-term consequences,
such as the ease with which they can be used and discomfort associated with
their use, were most strongly associated with adolescents' intentions to
use condoms. To encourage condom use, messages from physicians and other
health care professionals must focus on adolescents' beliefs that are most
likely to encourage or inhibit use of condoms. Health considerations should
not be the sole emphasis of such communications if the goal is to increase
the use of condoms among sexually active adolescents.
