Condom Use at First Intercourse with a New Partner in Female Adolescents and Young Adults: The Role of Cognitive Planning and Motives for Having Sex

Abstract

This study examined the extent to which cognitive planning and motives for sex can explain condom use at first intercourse with young females' most recent partner. A total of 133 female adolescents completed a questionnaire on cognitive planning (i.e., mentally preparing oneself for discussing condom use and for managing condoms), motives for having sex (i.e., having sex to express love, to experience pleasure, to enhance mood, and to please others), and condom use at this particular occasion. Logistic regression analyses showed that condom use was positively related to cognitive planning with respect to discussing condom use and negatively related to the motive for having sex to enhance mood. Cognitive planning for the management of condoms did not have a significant overall effect on condom use, but it did appear to be very effective for those adolescents who had a low score on the motive for having sex to express love. It thus appears useful to strengthen the skills of adolescents to discuss the use of condoms. Furthermore, stressing the negative affective consequences of unsafe sex may be particularly effective for those who are inclined to have sex to enhance mood, while encouraging adolescents to make plans for the management of condoms is likely to positively affect the use of condoms among those who are not primarily motivated to express love by having sex.

Sexual Risk behaviour and Associated Factors among Governmental Higher Institution Students in Debre Markos Town, North West Ethiopia

“…Also supported by study among Uganda University students. The reason might be Students will change their behaviors in response to the true expectations of others [32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40].…”

Doing Gender in Sex and Sex Research

“…The risk behavior of women as well as men is found to vary with their sexual motivations (e.g., Gebhardt, Kuyper, & Dusseldorp, 2006). One study even found motives to account for more than twice as much variance in risky practices as did gender, race, age, and socioeconomic status combined (Cooper, Shapiro, & Powers, 1998).…”

Picturing Sexual Spaces in Everyday Life: Exploring the Construction of Sexuality and Sexual Behavior among Early Adult Women

“…It is relatively well-established that prevention method use changes over time in relationships with condom use declining and hormonal contraception increasing, as concerns about STI and pregnancy decrease (de Visser et al 2003). More recent work has demonstrated the importance of interpreting prevention method decisions within the social and emotional dynamics of a relationship , whereby methods of protection are forgone to achieve sexual pleasure (Free et al 2005), specific methods are assigned to women on the basis of normative gender roles in the relationship (Higgins and Browne 2008) or consistent use is deferred to more immediately salient emotional and physical relationship goals, such as becoming closer, pleasing a partner, expressing love, enhancing mood, or strengthening the dyad (Bartz et al 2007;Gebhardt et al 2006;Randolph et al 2007;Stanford et al 2000). Our data additionally suggest that patterns of conceptive and condom use (or non-use) may in fact become routine dynamics of the relationship themselves over time.…”