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Modeling Beliefs, Attitudes, and Intentions of Condom Use Among Secondary School Students in Kenya

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Abstract

As in other parts of sub-Saharan Africa, youth in Kenya report low rates of condom use. Although several studies have explored reasons for the low condom use among Kenyan youth, not many have established linkages between lack of use and normative beliefs and attitudes around condoms. Using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), this article examined whether beliefs and attitudes around condoms influenced intentions and actual condom use. Data for the study were restricted to 1453 sexually active youth during the last school break. Path analysis was used to examine the relationship between the TPB constructs and condom use among Kenyan youth. Results indicated a direct relationship between attitudes and condom use for male respondents and an indirect relationship between these two variables for females. Both males and females who expressed greater intentions to use condoms were significantly more likely to report they used condoms consistently. Also, male and female youth with higher perceived behavioral control were significantly more likely to have used condoms consistently. Males with friends who used condoms were significantly more likely to use condoms consistently. The findings suggest the importance of examining young people’s attitudes toward condoms—in particular, those deeply rooted in misconceptions that serve to discourage safer sexual behaviors.

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Notes

  1. The school year in Kenya is divided into 3 equal terms of 3 months each separated by 1 month school breaks. The last school break was 1 month (approximately 4 weeks).

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Funding

This study was funded by United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL, A1C 5S7, Canada

    Anna B. Appiah & Eric Y. Tenkorang

  2. Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminology, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, Canada

    Eleanor Maticka-Tyndale

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  1. Anna B. Appiah
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  2. Eric Y. Tenkorang
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  3. Eleanor Maticka-Tyndale
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Correspondence to Eric Y. Tenkorang.

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ABA declares that she has no conflict of interest. EYT declares that he has no conflict of interest. EMT declares that she has no conflict of interest.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Research Ethics Board of the University of Windsor and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Appiah, A.B., Tenkorang, E.Y. & Maticka-Tyndale, E. Modeling Beliefs, Attitudes, and Intentions of Condom Use Among Secondary School Students in Kenya. Arch Sex Behav 46, 1949–1960 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-017-0966-9

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