A methodological study was conducted to initially test the psychometric properties of an adolescent and young adult condom perception scale. A 25-item scale measured the constructs of perceived benefits and barriers to using condoms in preventing human immunodeficiency virus and other sexually transmitted diseases. The items were developed based on a review of the literature and a review by experts who work with adolescents. The scale was self-administered to 209 voluntary participants (13 to 26 years of age), with 198 completing without missing data. Item analysis (interitem correlations, item to total correlations, and contribution to alpha coefficient) was conducted, and 10 items were deleted. Principal axis factor analysis with varimax rotation yielded three factors, which accounted for 44% of the variance. The factors were relationship-oriented barriers, condom benefits, and sexual satisfaction barriers. The total scale had an alpha coefficient of .82. The scale should be beneficial to further research of condom perceptions and use.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Baumrind, D. (1987). A developmental perspective on adolescent risk taking in contemporary America. New Directions for Child Development, 37, 93-125.
2.
Beaman, M. , & Strader, M. (1989). STD patients’ knowledge about AIDS and attitudes toward condom use. Journal of Community Health Nursing, 6, 155-164.
3.
Bernard, J. , Herbert, Y., de Man, A., & Farrar, D. (1989). Attitudes of French Canadian university students toward use of condoms: A structural analysis. Psychological Reports, 65, 851-854.
4.
Billy, J. , Tanfer, K., Grady, W., & Klepinger, D. (1993). The sexual behavior of men in the United States. Family Planning Perspectives, 25, 52-60.
5.
Brown, I. (1984). Development of a scale to measure attitude toward the condom as a method of birth control. Journal of Sex Research, 20, 255-263.
6.
Comrey, A. (1988). Factor-analytic methods of scale development in personality and clinical psychology. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 56, 754-761.
7.
Dale, E. , & Chall, J. (1948). A formula for predicting readability: Instructions. Education Research Bulletin, 28, 37-54.
8.
DeVellis, R. (1991). Scale development: Theory and application. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
9.
DiClemente, R. , Durbin, M., Siegel, D., Krasnovsky, F., Lazarus, N., & Comacho, T. (1992). Determinants of condom use among junior high school students in a minority, inner-city school district. Pediatrics, 89, 197-202.
10.
Erikson, E. (1968). Identity: Youth and crisis. New York: Norton.
11.
Ferketich, S. (1990). Internal consistency estimates of reliability. Research in Nursing & Health, 13, 437-440.
12.
Ferketich, S. (1991). Aspects of item analysis. Research in Nursing & Health, 14, 165-168.
13.
Flavell, J. (1985). Cognitive development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
14.
Forrest, J. , & Singh, S. (1990). The sexual and reproductive behavior of American women, 1982-1988. Family Planning Perspectives, 22, 206-214.
15.
Grady, W. , Klepinger, D., Billy, J., & Tanfer, K. (1993). Condom characteristics: The perceptions and preferences of men in the United States. Family Planning Perspectives, 25, 67-73.
16.
Grimley, D. , Riley, G., Bellis, J., & Prochaska, J. (1993). Assessing the stages of change and decision-making for contraceptive use for the prevention of pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Health Education Quarterly, 20, 455-470.
17.
Hanna, K. (1993). Effect of nurse-client transaction on female adolescents’ oral contraceptive adherence. IMAGE: Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 25, 285-290.
18.
Hanna, K. (1995). Use of King’s theory of goal attainment to promote adolescents’health behavior. In M. Frey & C. Sieloff (Eds.), Advancing King’s systems framework and theory of nursing (pp. 239-250). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
19.
Hanna, K. (1997). An oral contraceptive perception scale for female adolescents. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 19, 519-529.
20.
Hatcher, R. , Trussell, J., Stewart, F., Stewart, G., Kowal, D., Guest, F., Cates, W., & Policar, M. (1994). Contraceptive technology (16th ed.). New York: Irvington.
21.
Hingson, R. , Strunin, L., Berlin, B., & Heeren, T. (1990). Beliefs about AIDS, use of alcohol and drugs, and unprotected sex among Massachusetts adolescents. American Journal of Public Health, 80, 295-299.
22.
Jemmott, L. , & Jemmott, J. (1990). Sexual knowledge, attitudes, and risky sexual behavior among inner-city black male adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Research, 5, 346-369.
23.
Kegeles, S. , Adler, N., & Irwin, C. (1988). Sexually active adolescents and condoms: Changes over one year in knowledge, attitudes and use. American Journal of Public Health, 78, 460-461.
24.
Kegeles, S. , Adler, N., & Irwin, C. (1989). Adolescents and condoms. American Journal of Disease of Children, 143, 911-915.
25.
Leland, N. , & Barth, R. (1992). Gender differences in knowledge, intentions, and behaviors concerning pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease prevention among adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Health, 13, 589-599.
26.
Maticka-Tyndale, E. (1991). Sexual scripts and AIDS prevention: Variations in adherence to safer-sex guidelines by heterosexual adolescents. Journal of Sex Research, 28, 45-66.
27.
Norris, A. , & Ford, K. (1994). Condom beliefs in urban, low income, African American and Hispanic youth. Health Education Quarterly, 21, 39-53.
28.
Norusis, M. J. (1990). SPSS/PC+ version 4.0. Chicago: SPSS, Inc.
29.
Piccinino, L. , & Mosher, W. (1998). Trends in contraceptive use in the United States, 1982-1995. Family Planning Perspectives, 30, 4-10, 46.
30.
Pleck, J. , Sonenstein, F., & Ku, L. (1993). Changes in adolescent males’ use of and attitudes toward condoms, 1988-1991. Family Planning Perspectives, 25, 106-109, 117.
31.
Roscoe, B. , & Peterson, K. (1984). Older adolescents: A self-report of engagement in developmental tasks. Adolescence, 19, 391-396.
32.
Rosenstock, I. (1966). Why people use health sources. Milbank Memorial Quarterly, 44, 94-124.
33.
Sonenstein, F. , Pleck, F., & Ku, L. (1989). Sexual activity, condom use and AIDS awareness among adolescent males. Family Planning Perspectives, 21, 152-158.
34.
Tabachnick, B. , & Fidell, L. (1989). Principal components and factor analysis. In Using multivariate statistics (2nd ed., pp. 597-677). New York: Harper & Row.
35.
Tanfer, K. , Grady, W., Klepinger, D., & Billy, J. (1993). Condom use among U.S. men, 1991. Family Planning Perspectives, 25, 61-66.
36.
Tanfer, K. , & Rosenbaum, E. (1986). Contraceptive perceptions and method choice among young single women in the United States. Studies in Family Planning, 17, 269-277.
37.
Walter, H. , Vaughan, R., Gladis, M., Ragin, D., Kasen, S., & Cohall, A. (1993). Factors associated with AIDS-related behavioral intentions among high school students in an AIDS epicenter. Health Education Quarterly, 20, 409-420.
38.
Blue, C. L. (1995). The predictive capacity of the Theory of Reasoned Action and the Theory of Planned Behavior in exercise research: An integrated literature review. Research in Nursing and Health, 18, 105-121.
39.
Fuller, J. , & Schaller-Ayers, J. (1990). Health assessment: A nursing approach. New York: Lippincott.
40.
Gordon, M. (1994). Nursing diagnosis: Process and application (3rd ed.). Philadelphia: Mosby.
41.
Bandura, A. (1992). A social cognitive approach to the exercise of control over AIDS infection. In R. DiClemente (Ed.), Adolescents and AIDS: A generation in jeopardy (pp. 89-116). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
42.
Hanna, K. (1993). Effect of nurse-client transaction on female adolescents’ oral contraceptive adherence. IMAGE: Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 25, 285-290.
43.
Hanna, K. (1995). Use of King’s theory of goal attainment to promote adolescents’health behavior. In M. Frey & C. Sieloff (Eds.), Advancing King’s framework and theory of nursing (pp. 239-250). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
44.
Kasch, C. (1986). Toward a theory of nursing action: Skills and competency in nurse-patient interaction. Nursing Research, 35, 226-230.
45.
King, I. (1981). A theory of nursing: Systems, concepts, process. New York: John Wiley.
46.
Rosenstock, I. (1966). Why people use health sources. Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly, 44, 94-124.
