Search

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.

Although several studies have emphasized the relevance of community level variables to AIDS prevention among young people in sub-Saharan Africa, few have tested the empirical connections between such variables and sexual behaviors. Using data from 3645 sexually experienced grade 6 and 7 students from 160 schools, modeled on Fisher and Fisher's information-motivation-behavioral skills (IMB) model (2000, 1993) and Campbell's identification of community influences (2003), this study applies hierarchical linear models to estimate the effects of individual and community level variables on condom use among youth in Nyanza Province, Kenya. Four separate models were fit for both males and females. Results show significant differences across schools and communities regarding condom use. The predictors of reported condom use at last intercourse for both males and females were ethnicity, pressure to engage in sexual intercourse, and condom self efficacy. While age, religion, rejecting myths about the spread of HIV, and talking to male relatives about HIV/AIDS were all positively related to condom use for males, risk perception, socio-economic status of the school and school sponsorship by a religious group were negatively related to the outcome variable. For females, abstinence self efficacy and HIV prevention programming in community festivals were additional significant predictors, both increasing the odds of condom use. Our results suggest that there are marked differences in factors influencing reported condom use among males and females in Nyanza, Kenya. While some of these factors exist at the individual level, others exist at the school/community level. Based on our findings, we recommend that AIDS prevention interventions take account not only of individual-level factors, but also school/community influences on the sexual behaviors of youth., (Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Belief in superstition and witchcraft is central to many African conceptions of illness, disease causation and etiology. While a number of anthropological studies have alluded to a theoretical link between such beliefs and HIV prevention in particular, there is limited empirical assessment of the association. Using data from the 2008 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey and applying random-effects logit models, we investigate whether the belief that AIDS can spread through witchcraft associates with the sexual decision making of never-married men and women. The results show that men who believed AIDS can spread through witchcraft and other supernatural means were less likely to have used condoms at last sexual intercourse, controlling for other socioeconomic and cultural variables. Women with similar beliefs were more likely to have experienced sexual intercourse but less likely to have used condoms at last sex. For women, however, the relationship between such superstitious beliefs and condom use was somewhat attenuated after controlling for ethnicity and region of residence. From a policy perspective, the findings suggest that local beliefs regarding AIDS causation must be considered in designing HIV/AIDS programmes and interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]