Gender differences in the prediction of condom use among incarcerated juvenile offenders: testing the Information-Motivation-Behavior Skills (IMB) model.

PURPOSE: To validate the predictive value of the Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills (IMB) model of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention for sexually active juvenile offenders and to explore gender differences in IMB model constructs for condom-protected vaginal intercourse.
METHODS: Self-report measures of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) knowledge, pro-condom peer influence, risk perception, condom attitudes, condom use self-efficacy, frequency of vaginal intercourse, and frequency condom-protected vaginal intercourse were collected from predominantly African-American adolescent detainees. Analysis consisted of structural equation models for the combined sample (N = 523) and for separate gender groups (328 males and 195 females).
RESULTS: In the combined model, condom use was significantly predicted by male gender, peer influence, positive condom attitudes, and condom self-efficacy. In separate gender analyses, condom use among adolescent males was predicted by peer influence (modestly) and by positive condom attitudes, whereas condom use among females was predicted by peer influence, self-efficacy, and condom attitudes. Compared with males, females reported significantly greater knowledge, less peer influence, higher perceived risk for infection, more positive condom attitudes, and more self-efficacy, but they reported less condom use.
CONCLUSIONS: Females may find it difficult to use condoms consistently despite their awareness of their efficacy. Power imbalances or other dynamics operating in their relationships with males need further exploration. Gender differences in the relationship between condom self-efficacy and condom use were masked in the analysis of the total sample, indicating the value of testing theories of HIV prevention separately by gender.