Young people's use of condoms and their perceived vulnerability to sexually transmitted infections

Abstract

Objective: Although sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are most prevalent among young people, they do not use condoms consistently to prevent infection. This study examined young people's perceptions of vulnerability to STIs and pregnancy. Method: A cross‐sectional survey on sexual behaviour was carried out on a stratified random sample of school‐going Year 12 and Year 13 young people aged 16–18 years in Christchurch, New Zealand. Results: 1,136 students participated in the study, half of whom were sexually active. Fewer than half of the sexually active participants (44.6%) used condoms on every occasion of sexual intercourse. Only 23% of participants reported that they felt vulnerable to acquiring an STI, with a quarter of respondents reporting not using condoms because they did not think that either they or their partner had an infection, and a quarter reported not using condoms because they used other contraceptive measures. Conclusions: The results of this study support the premise that young people are more concerned about preventing unwanted pregnancy than STIs. Their perception of low risk of acquiring STIs is not without substance, however, as it was established that there was a low prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis among this school‐going population. The key to achieving more consistent condom use for STI prevention for young people may be through finding ways to get them to accept that they are vulnerable to STIs, despite the low prevalence among their peers, because the consequences of infection are far‐reaching.

Sexual behaviour and related knowledge among a representative sample of secondary school students between 1997 and 2008

“…Abel and Brunton in a study of year 12 and year 13 secondary schools students (mean age = 16.6 years) in Christchurch, New Zealand, found 49% of students had engaged in sexual intercourse. 8 The rates of sexual intercourse found in the Australian data were higher than those found by Henderson et al in Scotland,5 however this difference is likely attributable in some part to the lower mean age of the Scottish sample (mean = 14.2 years).…”

Most adolescents who participate in school-based screenings for sexually transmitted infections do not perceive themselves at high risk of sexually transmitted infection

“…11 In New Zealand, 77% of 538 male and female high school students aged 16 -18 in Christchurch felt that it was unlikely that they would get a sexually transmitted infection. 12 In Nepal, 77% of 348 sexually active male and female migrant factory workers aged 14-19 felt that they were not at all at risk of contracting any STI or HIV/AIDS. 13 In our study of 3336 male and female high school students who were participating in a school-based screening for chlamydia and gonorrhoea, 64% estimated that their chances of getting infected with an STI were not pretty high or very high.…”

Self-Assessed Risk of HIV and Other STIs Among Young Adults in Norway and Croatia

“…On the other hand, studies have also shown that people who are in permanent relationships do not practice safer sex (Abel and Brunton 2004;Misovich et al 1997), as illustrated in Croatian 18-24 year-olds, where 17% of the females and 31% of the males reported having had concurrent relationships (Š tulhofer et al 2009), thus increasing the risk of STI transmission. That extradyadic activity represents a risk of STI transmission has also been documented in Norway, where people tend not to use condoms during sex (Traeen et al 2007).…”