Determinants of Condom Use Intentions and Behavior Among Turkish Youth

Abstract The assumptions of two social cognition models, the Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1991) and the Health Belief Model (Rosenstock, 1974) are examined in 2 samples of Turkish university students: sexually active and sexually inactive. For sexually inactive participants, perceived benefits of condom use and self-efficacy beliefs regarding condom use were associated with stronger condom use intentions. For sexually active participants, positive attitudes toward condom use were the most important determinant of condom use intentions. Intentions were strongly associated with condom use. Current findings provide important information for designing HIV/AIDS education campaigns and materials for Turkish youth with different sexual histories. The results suggest that the Theory of Planned Behavior has merit in informing health promotion campaigns in a Turkish setting.