How Condom Discontinuation Occurs: Interviews with Emerging Adult Women

We have almost no data on how and when couples stop using condoms. This qualitative study investigated the process of condom discontinuation. 

From November 2013 to April 2014, a total of 25 women living in a college town in the Midwest, ages 18 to 25, participated in semi-structured interviews centered around three domains: partner interactions, contraceptive use, and sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention. Analysis followed a critical qualitative research orientation. 

Participants described actively seeking the best options to prevent pregnancy, perceiving condom discontinuation in favor of hormonal methods as a smart decision, and reported wanting to discontinue using condoms due to physical discomfort. Oftentimes, nonverbal communication around contextual instances of condom unavailability paved the way for discontinuation. 

Participants indicated the decision to stop using condoms was neither deliberate nor planned. Condom discontinuation rarely occurred at one point in time; instead, it was preceded by a period of occasional use. 

Even after participants described themselves as not using condoms, sporadic condom use was normal (typically related to fertility cycles). This study provides a more detailed understanding of how and why emerging adults negotiate condom discontinuation, thereby enhancing our ability to design effective condom continuation messages. 

Attention should be paid to helping emerging adults think more concretely about condom discontinuation.

Purchase full article at:   http://goo.gl/xQ8x0c

By:  Mullinax M1, Sanders S2, Dennis B3, Higgins J4, Fortenberry JD5, Reece M6.

• 1 HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies , Columbia University and New York State Psychiatric Institute.
• 2 Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, Indiana University-Bloomington and Department of Gender Studies , Indiana University-Bloomington.
• 3 Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology, School of Education , Indiana University-Bloomington.
• 4 Department of Gender and Women's Studies , University of Wisconsin-Madison.
• 5 Department of Pediatrics , Indiana University-Indianapolis.
• 6 Center for Sexual Health Promotion , Indiana University-Bloomington.
• J Sex Res. 2016 Mar 16:1-9.  

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The Relationship Between Pregnancy Prevention and STI/HIV Prevention and Sexual Risk Behavior among American Indian Men

OBJECTIVE:

We examined the relationship between American Indian men's attitudes toward pregnancy prevention, STI/HIV prevention, and sexual risk behavior. Attention was given to: (1) attitudes and intentions to use condoms and sexual risk behavior; (2) STI/HIV prevention characteristics and sexual risk behavior; (3) attitudes toward abstinence and monogamy and sexual risk behavior; and (4) decision-making in relationships and sexual risk behavior.

STUDY DESIGN:

Our sample included 120 heterosexual American Indian men aged 18 to 24 living on a reservation. Data were collected during in-depth interviews. A community-based participatory research framework was used to ensure the relevancy and acceptability of the study given the sensitivity of the topic.

PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:

Results demonstrated that attitudinal factors were associated with sexual risk behavior, particularly inconsistent condom use. Attitudes associated with consistent condom use suggested greater levels of positive dispositions toward prevention and intention to use condoms. Consistent condom use was associated with more cautious attitudes toward sex with multiple sex partners. Study results suggested that American Indian men who reported sex with multiple partners exhibited a set of attitudes and beliefs toward pregnancy prevention and STI/HIV prevention that corresponded with a disposition resulting from their behaviors, in that engaging in sexual risk behavior elevated their levels of risk perception.

CONCLUSIONS:

Our findings suggest that heterosexual American Indian men living in rural environments need sexual and reproductive health programs and clinical services that address differing attitudes toward condom use within the context of multiple sex partners and sexual risk behavior.

  

Purchase full article at:  http://goo.gl/dAGrka

By:   Rink E¹, FourStar KT², Anastario MP³.

¹Department of Health and Human Development, Montana State University (http://www.montana.edu/hhd/), Bozeman, Montana.

²School of Public and Community Health Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana.

³University of Central America, El Salvador.

J Rural Health. 2015 Dec 22. doi: 10.1111/jrh.12166. [Epub ahead of print]

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