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Adolescent condom use with 'casual' versus 'main' partners |
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From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: This week, a new study from researchers at the Bradley Hasbro Children's Research Center and Brown Medical School, finds that teen attitudes toward condom use with whom they perceive as casual sexual partners versus main partners is crucial in developing effective HIV intervention programs. Researchers discovered that whether or not they were with a 'main' or 'casual' sexual partner, study participants had similar numbers of unprotected sex acts, despite the fact that they were more likely to use condoms with a casual partner than with someone with whom they considered a serious partner. "Unfortunately, this reveals that teens may overestimate the safety of using condoms most of the time with a casual partner and underestimate the risk of unprotected sex with a serious partner," says lead author Celia Lescano, PhD, with the Bradley Hasbro Children's Research Center and Brown Medical School. Over thirteen hundred sexually active adolescents (between fifteen and twenty-one years of age), from Miami, Atlanta and Providence, were recruited for this study. "We can conclude that, given these high rates of unprotected sex, teens in both groups may be at risk for contracting HIV and sexually-transmitted diseases," says Lescano. Condom use, a primary method of sexual safety, has been associated with a variety of individual characteristics and attitudes, such as self-efficacy, personal beliefs, and perception of peer norms. For instance, ten percent of those teens reporting having relationships with casual partners also reported living with a main partner. Bradley Hospital, located in Providence, RI, is a teaching hospital for Brown Medical School and ranks in the top third of private hospitals receiving funding from the National Institutes of Health.
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