Condom Use Behavior and Sexual Health Interventions
Summary
Condoms remain a cornerstone of efforts to prevent unintended pregnancy and the transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV. Despite widespread awareness of their protective effects, consistent and correct use is uneven across populations, shaped by individual attitudes, interpersonal dynamics and structural factors. Research has identified key determinants of condom use behaviour, such as perceived benefits versus drawbacks, self‐efficacy in negotiating use, cultural norms and access to supplies. Interventions to promote condom use draw on behavioural science frameworks—such as the Health Promotion Model and the Behaviour Change Wheel—to design educational, digital and home‐based strategies that target capability, opportunity and motivation. Recent advances emphasise tailored digital content, skills training in condom application, and context‐specific distribution schemes, all of which seek to reduce barriers related to embarrassment, pleasure concerns and lack of confidence. Evaluations of these interventions have demonstrated improvements in consistent use, error reduction and willingness to purchase or carry condoms. A growing focus on integration—linking testing services, self‐sampling kits and online platforms—highlights the potential for seamless delivery of sexual health resources. Across diverse settings, the global significance of condom promotion is underscored by its cost‐effectiveness, scalability and adaptability to different age groups and risk profiles.
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Condom Use Behavior and Sexual Health Interventions publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in condom use behavior and sexual health interventions across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Health Promotion Model (HPM): A theoretical framework that identifies personal, interpersonal and situational factors influencing health behaviours and guides intervention design.
Self‐efficacy: An individual’s belief in their capacity to perform a specific behaviour under varying circumstances.
Path analysis: A statistical technique for examining direct and indirect relationships among multiple variables within a theoretical model.
Behavior Change Techniques (BCTs): Discrete, standardised methods—such as demonstration or feedback—used to modify determinants of behaviour within an intervention.
Systematic review and meta‐analysis: Structured approaches to identify, evaluate and quantitatively synthesise data from multiple studies on a given topic.
References
- Predictors of Condom Use among College Students. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (2024).
- Condom application skills and self-efficacy in youth: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PLOS ONE (2021).
- An Intervention to Increase Condom Use Among Users of Chlamydia Self-Sampling Websites (Wrapped): Intervention Mapping and Think-Aloud Study. JMIR Formative Research (2019).
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