Condoms and US college-aged men and women: briefly assessing attitudes toward condoms and general condom use behaviours

Abstract

Background The purpose of this study was to develop an abbreviated reliable tool for assessing the attitudes US college-aged men and women have about condoms and condom use. Method: An online questionnaire was constructed and completed by 674 participants incorporating modified items from the Attitudes Towards Condom Scale (1984) and the Multidimensional Condom Attitude Scale (1994), with the addition of gender-neutral worded and condom positive or erotic items. Results: The original 40 items were reduced to 18 Likert-type items comprising the Brief Condom Attitude Scale (BCAS). Gender comparisons on a subset of 584 self-identified heterosexual participants indicated that women were significantly more likely to consider condoms as less protective, while men were significantly more likely to consider condoms as more interruptive. Additional analyses examining partnership indicated that monogamous participants were significantly more likely to view condoms as less interruptive, more erotic and less negative than non-monogamous participants. Conclusions: The BCAS appears to be a reliable measure for assessing US college-aged individuals’ attitudes about condoms.