Health Behavior Theory Intervention for Condom Preparatory Behaviors

Background Information In the past four years, there has been an increase in the number of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) by 30% and adolescents make up more than half of these new cases each year (CDC, 2019). In the U.S alone, 1 in 5 teens have STDs and condoms are 98% effective in preventing them. Purpose The purpose of the intervention is to increase contraception use, decrease the number of cases of STDs, and increase knowledge (via increased scores on post-test assessments) about condom use in the target population of adolescents 18 years or older who are currently attending college and are sexually active. Theoretical Foundation and Plan This educational intervention is based on the Health Belief Model (HBM) and is in comparison to the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to determine the effectiveness of HBM on condom preparatory behavior. Each student will be given at-home modules to take at their convenience and the modules will examine each of the constructs of both of these theories. The participants will take a pre and post-assessment to determine the effectiveness of each of the interventions. Recommendation and Conclusion Based on the results of the study, HBM is most effective when explaining behavior constructs and impacting mediators for behavior change. These results can be used in the future to create future programs for condom use and other adolescent risk behaviors that involve behavior change among this target population