'Don't know' and 'didn't think of it': Condom use at first intercourse by Latino adolescents

Abstract

We examined the specific reasons Latino adolescents did or did not use condoms at first intercourse and their specific reasons for their perceived risk for contracting HIV. Latino adolescents (n = 618), ages 11-19, completed a face-to-face interview that included information on demographics (sex, age, family-status (lives with both natural parents versus other family structure) and country of birth) and sexual behaviour. The respondents cited 'don't know' (25.9%), 'not available' (25.9%) and 'didn't think of it' (23.5%) as the most frequent reasons for not using condoms at first intercourse. Anyone can get it (41.8%), unknown knowledge of partner's serostatus (24.7%) and unprotected sex (23.8%) were the top three reasons for perceiving oneself as being at risk for contracting HIV. Sexually active adolescents were more likely to perceive themselves at risk for contracting HIV than adolescents that had not had sex. Males were significantly more likely to report using condoms for protection at first intercourse than females. The remaining demographic factors were not significantly related to use of condoms at first intercourse nor to perceived risk for contracting HIV.

Determinants of condom use at sexual debut among young Vietnamese

“…The prevalence of condom use in this study is consistent with that in China (29.6%) (10) and Thailand (28.3%) (18) but is much lower than that among European (12) and American adolescents (46%-62%) (11,19). Similar to other East Asia countries, the low prevalence of safe sex behavior among adolescents and youths in their premarital period may stem from the pervasive social stigma against premarital sex.…”

Putting the C Back into the ABCs: A Multi-Year, Multi-Region Investigation of Condom Use by Ugandan Youths 2003–2010

“…This finding is consistent with studies in the United States [26], [38], Latin America [39], sub-Saharan Africa [10], [28], and Europe [40] showing that early use is associated with subsequent use. To the best of our knowledge, the current study is the first to isolate the important positive association of condom use at sexual debut even with high-risk sexual behaviours (such as sex with non-regular partners), and to demonstrate that this relationship is consistent across multiple time points and over multiple geographical locations.…”

Source of Sex Information and Condom Use Intention Among Latino Adolescents

“…Other personal and sociodemographic factors have been shown to influence adolescents’ sexual behavior, including condom use and intentions, and were therefore included as covariates in this study. Given that prior studies with adolescents have found that sexual beliefs and behaviors are related to age (Manlove, Ikramullah, & Terry-Humen, 2008), gender (Nahom et al, 2001; Sneed et al, 2001; Tschann, Flores, De Groat, Deardorff, & Wibbelsman, 2010), parent education (Longmore, Manning, Giordano, & Rudolph, 2003), acculturation (Afable-Munsuz & Brindis, 2006; Deardorff et al, 2013; Pasch et al, 2006), and sexual experience (Nahom et al, 2001), these were included as covariates in our study.…”