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In this paper we present a family of models that allows us to estimate egos' unobserved action dispositions from a joint behavioural outcome of a dyadic social interaction process of both egos' and alters' action dispositions. The method is put to test on a data set containing two different types of dyadic activities of high relevance for the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STI), condom use and anal sex. The data consists of individuals older than 15 years old who visited one of the nine youth clinics in the Vastra Gotaland region of Sweden between February 2010 and March 2011 for STI testing. This is hence a group of special interest for STI interventions. We cannot find any difference in condom disposition between women and men. Condoms are initially used more often in less risky types of relationships, especially if the partner ends up as a main partner. When studying the disposition towards anal sex we do however find a difference between men and women. Women are more against practising anal sex than men while the majority of men are neutral towards anal sex.

Although Sweden invests a great deal of money and effort in prevention work, STIs are a major problem in our society. Young people are at high risk both when it comes to unwanted pregnancies and STIs and several studies have revealed that the condom use is quite low. Condom use is a complex issue. There are often several factors that interact and affect the decision to use or not use condom. The result in this thesis shows that young people have behavioral expectation to use condom, especially for anal sex and vaginal sex with a casual partner (both known and unknown). At the same time, the condom use is low irrespective of type of partner and type of sex. Approximately 20 % of the participants never used a condom during the preceding 12 months. Most of the participants said that reason for their use or non-use was based on partner evaluation. However, our participants indicate that there often is a deeper reason why they do not use condoms. Women talk about their male partner’s resistance against condom use. Men in the other hand mention the problem with fit and feel especially problems related to erection problems when they have been drinking alcohol. One of the most interesting findings is that the participants’ view of sex affected their condom use. Those with a relaxed view (e.g., did not connect love with sex and had had more sexual partners during the past 12 months) had fewer occasions of unprotected vaginal intercourse compared with the participants with a traditional view (e.g., often associated sex with vaginal penetration).The most important thing we need to do is increase ’men’s sense of responsibility and involve them in the prevention work. It is also important that the condom counseling is individualized. It is not enough to simply speak about condom use in general; instead we need to relate condom use to sexual practice and partner type but also to the individuals’ specific condom problem. At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: Epub ahead of print. Paper 2: Manuscript. Paper 3: Manuscript.