Examining intention to use condoms among adolescents in Ghana

Sixty-three percent(63%) of youth living with HIV/AIDS live in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet, there is a lack data on sexual behaviors of sub-Saharan African youth. Data was collected from11 Senior Secondary Schools in Ghana, Africa. 63%of the sample was from Greater Accra, while 37% was from the Volta region (N = 902). The data was weighted to represent the gender of the population based on the two regions. The sample consisted of 510 boys (56.6%) and 391 girls (43.4%). Age ranged from 16 to 19 years, with 33.2% being 17 years old. Girls were less likely to intend to use condoms than boys (X² = 18.3, df = 2, p<.001). Participants who thought it was a good idea to use condoms were more likely to intend to use condoms than participants who did not think it was a good idea (X² = 257.01, df = 2, p<.001). Participants who thought people important to them would approve of them using condoms were more likely to intend to use condoms than participants who did not think people would approve(X² = 129.1, df = 2, p<.001). Participants who were sure they could use a condom when having sex were more likely to intend to use condoms than participants who were not sure (X² = 163.24, df = 2, p<.001). Participants who think it is easy to use condoms were more likely to intend to use condoms than participants who thought it was not easy(X² = 145.08, df = 2, p<.001).