Abstract
Young people are especially vulnerable to sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The triad of deliberate and effective safer sex behavior encompasses condom use, combined with additional information about a partner’s sexual health, and the kind of sex acts usually performed. To identify psychosocial predictors of young people’s intentions to have safer sex, as related to this triad, we conducted an online study with 211 sexually active participants aged between 18 and 24 years. Predictors [i.e., perceived behavioral control (PBC), subjective norms, and intention] taken from Fishbein and Ajzen’s Reasoned Action Approach (RAA), were combined with more distal variables (e.g., behavioral inhibition, sensation seeking, parental monitoring, and knowledge about STIs). Beyond the highly predictive power of RAA variables, additional variance was explained by the number of instances of unprotected sexual intercourse (SI) during the last 12 months and reasons for using barrier protection during first SI. In particular, past condom non-use behavior moderated PBC related to intended condom use. Further, various distal variables showed significant univariate associations with intentions related to the three behaviors of interest. It may, therefore, be helpful to include measures of past behavior as well as certain additional distal variables in future safer sex programs designed to promote health-sustaining sexual behavior.
Highlights
Each year, an estimated half a billion new curable sexually transmitted infections (STIs) occur worldwide [1], with young people aged 15–24 years [2] acquiring nearly half of them [3]
To test whether distal variables could be additional predictors of safer sex behavior, this study extended the Reasoned Action Approach (RAA)-guided prediction model by including the following distal variables, in addition to assessing past behavior
Both of these RAA variables predicted intention to ask a partner about his/her health status, as well as intention to perform less risky sex acts (57.2%). These values may appear high, according to Fishbein and Ajzen [19], such percentages are not uncommon if, as in this study, the correspondence principle is strictly followed by taking into account factors such as time, action, target, and context. This primacy of RAA variables over distal variables is further accentuated by the fact that analyses of attitude measures could not be included due to a technical problem during data acquisition
Summary
An estimated half a billion new curable sexually transmitted infections (STIs) occur worldwide [1], with young people aged 15–24 years [2] acquiring nearly half of them [3]. [37, 38]], we included the following specific sub-behaviors, and looked for variables predicting the intention to [1] ask a sex partner about his/her health status, [2] perform less risky sex acts, and [3] use condoms when having SI with a new partner. Using this framework, we expect that (a) in line with RAA, PN and PBC will predict the intention to perform each aforementioned safer sex sub-behavior and that (b) according to Montaño and Kasprzyk [29], distal, social, and past behavior variables will have indirect effects on the intention to perform each of the three aforementioned safer sex precautions through more proximal RAA variables. Due to a technical problem during data collection, it was not possible to measure attitudes toward target behaviors 1–3 (see Limitations)
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