Review of qualitative studies related to safer sex among college students and adolescents: Directions for Research

The HIV/AIDS epidemic has taken a tremendous toll on the population of United States. It is seen that the qualitative literature dealing with safer sex and HIV prevention is sparse and limited. The aims of this review were to discuss various published peer-reviewed literature conducted in the arena of qualitative studies concerned with safer sex among adolescents and college students and discuss implications for research. In order to collect materials for this review an open search of five databases (Academic Search Premier, CINAHL with Full text, ERIC, MEDLINE, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences collection) was done. A total of eight studies related to safer sex among adolescents/ college students were extracted. Studies were synthesized using guidelines for Critical Review Form developed by the McMaster University Occupational Therapy Evidence-Based Practice Research Group. The broad headings used for synthesizing were study purpose, literature review, study design and its appropriateness, data collection, procedural rigor, data analysis, theoretical connections, trustworthiness and conclusions. Some of the important findings were support of participants for sexuality education, attitudes towards safer sex, parents support for safer sex messages in schools, and sexual risk behaviors being due to gender power differentials. Recommendations for conducting more qualitative studies related to safer sex among adolescents/college students are elaborated.