Prototypical images in condom scripts among AIDS-bereaved adolescents

Twenty-five HIV-negative late adolescents (13 women and 12 men) who had lost a parent to AIDS generated vignettes in which the characters were deciding whether to use a condom (condom scripts). Two clinically trained judges rated the interpersonal tone of the condom scripts on 17 semantic differential scales. Three other clinically trained raters described script characters' attributes by selecting from a list of 36 terms. Multidimensional scaling (MDS) and individual differences hierarchical classes analyses (INDCLAS) were used to inductively derive a typology of condom scripts. Two dimensions emerged from MDS analysis: incompatibility and inequality. Condom scripts culminating in unprotected sex depicted situations in which partners held unequal influence. INDCLAS results suggested a prototype for equal-influence condom scripts - excited male and assertive, powerful female - and for unequal-influence (unprotected sex) condom scripts - powerful, disengaged male and permissive female. These results inform the development of theoretical models and HIV prevention program materials.