Stimulus piece

Sanderson and Yopyk (2007) carried out a study on 220 male university students to test how social cognitive theory could be applied to increase the practice of safer sex.

Participants were recruited through the use of advertisements seeking college students for a study evaluating safer sex videos. 76% of the sample had engaged in sexual intercourse in the previous 3 months.  Because of the nature of the videos that would be used in this study, as well as other differences with regard to knowledge and practice with regard to HIV prevention, data from gay or bisexual participants (n = 9) was excluded from the analysis.

The participants were randomly assigned to one of two HIV prevention video conditions or a no-treatment wait-list control condition. Both videos started with information about the rate of HIV infection in young adults, the vulnerability of college students to HIV infection, the mean number of sexual partners of college students, and low rates of condom use in college students.  The second part of the video showed a single-sex group of students discussing condom use.  In one video, the group was all male. In the other, all female. The script, however, was the same.  The group discussed how condom use shows respect for one’s sexual partner, how they could be a satisfying part of the sexual experience and how to decline sexual activity if your partner does not want to practice safe sex. The final section of each video demonstrated the correct use of a condom.

Each participant watched the video independently to avoid possible effects caused by watching it in a group.

After watching the video, the participants completed a questionnaire, asking about their history of condom use, intentions to use condoms and how confident they are in using condoms. The researchers found a higher rate of self-efficacy for condom use and intention to use condoms compared to the control group.

Three months later, the researchers asked the participants to complete a follow-up questionnaire. 85% of the original participants completed the second questionnaire. The researchers found that participants who watched either video were more likely to report having used a condom the last time they had sex with a regular partner than those in the control condition. Participants in the female video condition were somewhat more likely to report consistent condom use during the last 3 months than those in either of the other two conditions.  The results showed that participants who watched either video reported greater self-efficacy to refuse to have unprotected sex than controls.