According to the latest American research, emotions play an essential role in teen condom use. Due to this, helping teenagers control their emotions may be as relevant as practical information in promoting safe sex.
The research of 222 young people between 13 and 18 years old discovered that lack of self-efficacy (the belief that one could successfully engage in a particular behavior) in confrontation with the stress of using condoms is the most important barrier to their use.
In comparison with teenagers with lower self-efficacy, teens with higher self-efficacy about condom use (they were convinced that they could successfully use condoms) were more prone to use them every time even when they were feeling frustrated, angry, depressed or bad about themselves.
Adolescents need help
"We discovered that adolescents need help feeling more comfortable and less worried about discussing and using condoms," explained the author of the study, Celia Lescano, of the Bradley Hasbro Children’s Research Centre and the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University in Providence, R.I., in a prepared statement.
The findings of the research are published in the current issue of the Journal of Prevention and Intervention in the Community.
Controlling the stresses connected with the use of condoms is essential for promoting safe sex among teenagers all over the world.
"Adolescents have a chance to learn to reduce their anxiety connected with discussing and using condoms in order to use them safely and successfully," Lescano explained.
