Acceptance and use of condoms among school-aged young people in Australia

Jennifer Power; Sylvia Kauer; Christopher Fisher; Adam Bourne

doi:10.1071/SH23173

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

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Acceptance and use of condoms among school-aged young people in Australia

Jennifer Power

^A ^* , Sylvia Kauer

^A , Christopher Fisher

^B and Adam Bourne

^A ^C

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University, Building Nr6, Bundoora, Vic. 3086, Australia.

^B Victoria University, VU Online, PO Box 14428, Melbourne, Vic. 8001, Australia.

^C Kirby Institute, UNSW, Wallace Wurth Building (C27), UNSW, Kensington, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.

^* Correspondence to: Jennifer.power@latrobe.edu.au

Handling Editor: Cheng Wang

Sexual Health 21, SH23173 https://doi.org/10.1071/SH23173

Submitted: 13 October 2023 Accepted: 29 February 2024 Published: 21 March 2024

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Background

Despite availability of vaccines or medical prophylaxis for some sexually transmissible infections (STIs), promoting condom use remains an important public health strategy for the prevention of STIs. Recent research shows that regular condom use among young people in Australia has declined over the past decade, while the rate of common STIs has increased.

Method

In this paper, we report findings from a large survey of school-aged young people in Australia (14–18 years old) in which we looked at the association between condom use and positive feelings about sex, beliefs about social acceptability of condoms and confidence talking with partners about sex and condoms.

Results

Communication and relational factors supported more consistent condom use. Participants were more likely to regularly use condoms if they discussed condom use with a sexual partner, perceived condom use to be easy (a measure that included perceived ease of discussing condoms with a partner) and perceived condom use to offer social or relational benefits, including perceiving condom use as a demonstration of care for a partner. Young men were more likely to report positive feelings about sex and regular condom use than young women. Young women were less likely than young men or trans and non-binary young people to report regular condom use.

Conclusions

The study shows the importance of supporting young people to build confidence expressing sexual needs and wants with partners. Public health approaches to STI prevention need to consider condom promotion in the context of young people’s contemporary sexual, gendered and relationships cultures.

Keywords: Australasia, condom use, relationships and sexuality education, sexual communication, sexual health promotion, STI prevention, young people.

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