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Adolescent condom use and perceptions of risk for sexually transmitted diseases: a prospective study
Jonathan M Ellen1, Nancy Adler, Jill E Gurvey
1Department of Pediatrics, The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA. jellen@jhmi.edu
Background:
The authors' previous research has shown that in cross-sectional analysis, partner-specific perceptions of risk for gonorrhea and chlamydial and HIV infection correlated with partner-specific intentions to use condoms.
Goal:
The goal was to determine whether partner-specific measures of perception of risk for STDs (PRSTD) predict partner-specific condom use 6 months later among high-risk and low-risk youth.
Study Design:
Youths aged 14 to 19 years were recruited from an STD clinic (n = 236) and an HMO teen clinic (n = 306) and were interviewed at baseline and at 6 months about PRSTD, attitudes about condoms, self-efficacy, normative expectations, and condom use.
Results:
PRSTD with a main sex partner was an independent predictor of condom use with a main sex partner in the STD clinic cohort (odds ratio = 2.5; 95% CI = 1.1-6.2). There was no association between PRSTD with a casual sex partner and condom use in this cohort or between PRSTD for main or casual sex partners and condom use in the HMO teen clinic cohort.
Conclusion:
Interventions that target high-risk adolescents should focus on PRSTD with a main sex partner.