Condom Use and Consistency Among Male Adolescents in the United States
Received 29 October 2007; accepted 20 March 2008. published online 25 June 2008.
Refers to article:
Can We Afford to Be Complacent About Teens' Use of Condoms?
Freya Lund Sonenstein
Journal of Adolescent Health
October 2008 (Vol. 43, Issue 4, Pages 313-314) Full Text |
Full-Text PDF (169 KB)
Abstract
Purpose
To incorporate a behavioral model of health services utilization to examine whether male adolescents' family, individual, sex education, and partner factors are associated with several measures of condom use and consistency in heterosexual relationships.
Methods
We examine a sample of sexually experienced male adolescents 15–19 years of age in the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) to identify factors associated with condom use at first sex and last sex, condom consistency with their most recent sexual partner, and condom consistency in the past 4 weeks.
Results
Male adolescents who were Hispanic and those who did not receive formal sex education had lower odds of condom use and/or consistency, whereas African-American male adolescents and those with more positive attitudes about condoms had greater odds. Males who were older at most recent sex, who had an older sexual partner or a casual first sexual partner, who had a partner who used a method of contraception, who were in longer relationships, or who engaged in more frequent sex had reduced odds of contraceptive use.
Conclusions
Findings highlight multiple domains of influence on condom use behaviors among male adolescents. Programs that provide targeted services, address condom use attitudes, and help teens to negotiate condom use decision making with sexual partners may help to reduce high rates of sexually transmitted infections among male adolescents in the United States.
ABSTRACT