A novel, self-guided, home-based intervention to promote condom use among young men: a pilot study

Milhausen, Robin R.; Wood, Jessica; Sanders, Stephanie A.; Crosby, Richard A.; Yarber, William L.; Graham, Cynthia A.

doi:10.1016/j.jomh.2011.06.003

« Previous Next »journal of men's health
Volume 8, Issue 4 , Pages 274-281, December 2011

A novel, self-guided, home-based intervention to promote condom use among young men: a pilot study

Robin R. Milhausen, PhD
- Department of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition, Room 219 Macdonald Institute, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada, N1G 2W1; and The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, Indiana University; and Rural Center for AIDS/STD Prevention, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405 USA
- Corresponding author.
Jessica Wood, MSc
- Department of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition, University of Guelph, Guelph, N1H 5R1 Canada
Stephanie A. Sanders, PhD
- The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, Indiana University; and Rural Center for AIDS/STD Prevention, Indiana University; and Department of Gender Studies, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405 USA
Richard A. Crosby, PhD
- The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, Indiana University; and Rural Center for AIDS/STD Prevention, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA; and Department of Health Behavior, College of Public Health, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, 40506, USA
William L. Yarber, PhD
- The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, Indiana University; and Rural Center for AIDS/STD Prevention, Indiana University; and Department of Gender Studies, Indiana University; and Department of Applied Health Science, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 47405 USA
Cynthia A. Graham, PhD
- The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, Indiana University; and Rural Center for AIDS/STD Prevention, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405 USA; and Department of Psychology, Brunel University, Uxbridge, UB8 3PH, UK

Received 20 October 2010; received in revised form 14 May 2011; accepted 30 June 2011.

Abstract

Background

Current HIV prevention programs are often expensive to implement and require significant commitment on the part of participants and staff. These factors limit widespread implementation. Thus, there is an increasingly recognized need to develop and test brief interventions designed to promote safer sex.

Methods

This study tested the potential efficacy of a brief, self-guided, home-based intervention to promote consistent and correct condom use among young men by focusing on condom use skill, enjoyment, and self-efficacy. The central focus of The Kinsey Institute^® Homework Intervention Strategy (KIHIS) is that men practice applying, using, and removing condoms alone (a “low pressure” situation) trying various condoms and lubricants. A repeated measures evaluation compared 2-week, 6-week (n=28) and 4-month (n=17) follow-up evaluations to baseline (pre-intervention).

Results

Despite the limited sample size, significant post-intervention improvement was found for condom use experiences, confidence in the ability to use condoms, self-efficacy for condom use, and condom comfort as well as a reduction in breakage and erection problems.

Conclusion

Our findings suggest that the KIHIS, with its inherent potential for easy translation to public health sexually transmitted infection (STI) clinics (requiring very little clinic resources), may have lasting and positive effects on subsequent condom use attitudes, skills, and behaviors.

Keywords: Condoms, Men, Sexual behavior, Intervention