CSIRO Publishing blank image blank image blank image blank imageBooksblank image blank image blank image blank imageJournalsblank image blank image blank image blank imageAbout Usblank image blank image blank image blank imageShopping Cartblank image blank image blank image You are here: Journals > Sexual Health   
Sexual Health
Journal Banner
  Publishing on sexual health from the widest perspective
 
blank image Search
 
blank image blank image
blank image
 
  Advanced Search
   

Journal Home
About the Journal
Editorial Committee
Contacts
Content
Online Early
Current Issue
Just Accepted
All Issues
Online Early
Special Issues
Sample Issue
For Authors
General Information
Instructions to Authors
Submit Article
Open Access
For Referees
Referee Guidelines
Review Article
Annual Referee Index
For Advertisers
For Subscribers
Subscription Prices
Customer Service
Print Publication Dates

blue arrow e-Alerts
blank image
Subscribe to our Email Alert or RSS feeds for the latest journal papers.

red arrow Connect with us
blank image
facebook   youtube

red arrow Interview with Kit Fairley
blank image
Hear Kit Fairley speak about what is sexual health.

 

Article << Previous     |     Next >>   Contents Vol 9(4)

Perceived gender inequality, sexual communication self-efficacy, and sexual behaviour among female undergraduate students in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam

Thanh Cong Bui A F, Christine M. Markham A, Michael W. Ross A, Mark L. Williams B, R. Palmer Beasley C, Ly T. H. Tran C, Huong T. H. Nguyen D and Thach Ngoc Le E

A Division of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, School of Public Health, The University of Texas – Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
B Department of Health Policy and Management, Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work, Florida International University, Miami, FL 33199, USA.
C Division of Epidemiology, Human Genetics & Environmental Sciences, School of Public Health, The University of Texas – Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
D Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
E Department of Sociology, School of Social Sciences and Humanities, Can Tho University, Can Tho City, Vietnam.
F Corresponding author. Email: thanh.c.bui@uth.tmc.edu, thanh.bui@aya.yale.edu

Sexual Health 9(4) 314-322 http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/SH11067
Submitted: 3 May 2011  Accepted: 4 November 2011   Published: 20 January 2012
 
PDF (602 KB) $25
 Export Citation
 Print
  
Abstract

Background: Worldwide, the literature on sexual behaviour has documented associations between gender-based relationship inequality and sexual communication ability and the actual use of condoms or other contraceptives among young women. This study aimed to examine these associations among undergraduate female students in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of 1181 female third-year students from two universities in the Mekong Delta was conducted. Latent variable modelling and logistic regression were employed to examine the hypothesised associations. Results: Among the 72.4% of students who had ever had boyfriends, 44.8% indicated that their boyfriends had asked for sex, 13% had had penile–vaginal sex and 10.3% had had oral sex. For those who had had penile–vaginal sex, 33% did not use any contraceptive method, including condoms, during their first sexual intercourse. The greater a student’s perception that women were subordinate to men, the lower her self-efficacy for sexual communication and the lower her actual frequency of discussing safer sex matters and asking her partner to use a condom. Sexual communication self-efficacy was associated with actual contraceptive use (P = 0.039) but only marginally with condom use (P = 0.092) at first sexual intercourse. Conclusion: Sexual health promotion strategies should address the influence of gender relations on young women’s sexual communication self-efficacy and the subsequent impact on actual contraceptive and condom use.

Additional keywords: condom use, contraceptive use, gender relations, women, youth.


References

[1]  World Health Organization (WHO). Sexual and reproductive health of adolescents and youths in Vietnam: a review of literature and projects 1995–2002. Hanoi: WHO, Western Pacific Region; 2005.

[2]  Ministry of Health of Vietnam. Survey Assessment of Vietnamese Youth (SAVY). Hanoi: Ministry of Health of Vietnam, General Statistics Office of Vietnam, United Nations Children’s Fund, World Health Organization; 2005.

[3]  Mensch BS, Clark WH. Adolescents and social changes in Vietnam. Hanoi: Population Council, Institute of Sociology; 2000.

[4]  Francisco A, Dixon-Mueller R, d’Arcangues C. Research issues in sexual and reproductive health for low- and middle-income countries. Geneva: Global Forum for Health Research, World Health Organization; 2007.

[5]  Marston C, King E. Factors that shape young people’s sexual behaviour: a systematic review. Lancet 2006; 368: 1581–6.
| CrossRef | PubMed |

[6]  Wellings K, Collumbien M, Slaymaker E, Singh S, Hodges Z, Patel D, et al Sexual behaviour in context: a global perspective. Lancet 2006; 368: 1706–28.
| CrossRef | PubMed |

[7]  World Health Organization (WHO). Promoting and safeguarding the sexual and reproductive health of adolescents. Geneva: WHO; 2006.

[8]  Consultation of Investment in Health Promotion. Link between gender and sexual and reproductive health in Vietnam. Hanoi: Consultation of Investment in Health Promotion; 2005.

[9]  Santillan D, Schuler S, Hoang Tu A, Tran Hung M, Bui Thi Thanh M. Limited equality: contradictory ideas about gender and the implications for reproductive health in rural Vietnam. Journal of Health Management 2002; 4: 251–67.
| CrossRef |

[10]  Scott S, Chuyen TTK. Gender research in Vietnam: traditional approaches and emerging trajectories. Womens Stud Int Forum 2007; 30: 243–53.
| CrossRef |

[11]  Bui TC. Perceived gender relations and sexual relations among undergraduate female students in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. DrPH thesis. Houston: The University of Texas – Health Science Center at Houston, School of Public Health; 2010.

[12]  Lewis JE, Malow RM, Ireland SJ. HIV/AIDS risk in heterosexual college students. A review of a decade of literature. J Am Coll Health 1997; 45: 147–58.
| CrossRef | CAS | PubMed |

[13]  Crosby RA, DiClemente RJ, Wingood GM, Salazar LF, Harrington K, Davies SL, et al Identification of strategies for promoting condom use: a prospective analysis of high-risk African American female teens. Prev Sci 2003; 4: 263–70.
| CrossRef | PubMed |

[14]  DiIorio C, Dudley WN, Lehr S, Soet JE. Correlates of safer sex communication among college students. J Adv Nurs 2000; 32: 658–65.
| CrossRef | CAS | PubMed |

[15]  Noar SM, Carlyle K, Cole C. Why communication is crucial: meta-analysis of the relationship between safer sexual communication and condom use. Journal of Health Communication 2006; 11: 365–90.
| PubMed |

[16]  Bui TC, Diamond PM, Markham C, Ross MW, Nguyen-Le T-A, Tran LHT. Gender relations and sexual communication among female students in the Mekong River Delta of Vietnam. Culture, Health & Sexuality: An International Journal for Research. Culture, Health & Sexuality. 2010; 12: 591–601.

[17]  Connell R. Gender and power. Stanford: Stanford University Press; 1987.

[18]  Bandura A. Self-efficacy: the exercise of control. New York: W.H. Freeman & Co.; 1997.

[19]  Bandura A. Health promotion by social cognitive means. Health Educ Behav 2004; 31: 143–64.
| CrossRef | PubMed |

[20]  Institute of Medicine. Speaking of health: assessing health communication strategies for diverse populations. Washington D.C.: National Academy Press; 2002.

[21]  Center for HIV Identification, Prevention and Treatment Services. Instrument bank home. Los Angeles: Center for HIV Identification, Prevention and Treatment Services; 2006. Available online at: http://chipts.ucla.edu/assessment/ib_directory.asp [verified September 2007]

[22]  Forsyth AD, Carey MP. Measuring self-efficacy in the context of HIV risk reduction: research challenges and recommendations. Health Psychology 1998; 17: 559–68.
| CrossRef | CAS | PubMed |

[23]  Byrne BM. Structural equation modeling with AMOS: basic concepts, applications, and programming. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates; 2001.

[24]  Kline RB. Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. 2nd ed. New York: The Guilford Press; 2005.

[25]  Hu L-t, Bentler PM. Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Struct Equ Modeling 1999; 6: 1–55.
| CrossRef |

[26]  Boer H, Mashamba T. Gender power imbalance and differential psychosocial correlates of intended condom use among male and female adolescents from Venda, South Africa. Br J Health Psychol 2007; 12: 51–63.
| CrossRef | PubMed |

[27]  Langen TT. Gender power imbalance on women’s capacity to negotiate self-protection against HIV/AIDS in Botswana and South Africa. Afr Health Sci 2005; 5: 188–97.
| PubMed |

[28]  Wingood GM, DiClemente RJ, Harrington KF, Lang DL, Davies SL, Hook EW, et al Efficacy of an HIV prevention program among female adolescents experiencing gender-based violence. Am J Public Health 2006; 96: 1085–90.
| CrossRef | PubMed |

[29]  Babalola S. Gender differences in the factors influencing consistent condom use among young people in Tanzania. Int J Adolesc Med Health 2006; 18: 287–98.
| CrossRef | PubMed |

[30]  Brien TM, Thombs DL, Mahoney CA, Wallnau L. Dimensions of self-efficacy among three distinct groups of condom users. J Am Coll Health 1994; 42: 167–74.
| CrossRef | CAS | PubMed |

[31]  Halpern-Felsher BL, Kropp RY, Boyer CB, Tschann JM, Ellen JM. Adolescents’ self-efficacy to communicate about sex: its role in condom attitudes, commitment, and use. Adolescence 2004; 39: 443–56.
| PubMed |

[32]  Mahoney CA, Thombs DL, Ford OJ. Health belief and self-efficacy models: their utility in explaining college student condom use. AIDS Educ Prev 1995; 7: 32–49.
| CAS | PubMed |

[33]  Raiford JL, Wingood GM, DiClemente RJ. Correlates of consistent condom use among HIV-positive African American women. Womens Health (Lond Engl) 2007; 46: 41–58.

[34]  Sayles JN, Pettifor A, Wong MD, MacPhail C, Lee SJ, Hendriksen E, et al Factors associated with self-efficacy for condom use and sexual negotiation among South African youth. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 2006; 43: 226–33.
| CrossRef | PubMed |

[35]  Schroder KE, Johnson CJ, Wiebe JS. An event-level analysis of condom use as a function of mood, alcohol use, and safer sex negotiations. Arch Sex Behav 2009; 38: 283–9.
| CrossRef | PubMed |

[36]  Taffa N, Klepp KI, Sundby J, Bjune G. Psychosocial determinants of sexual activity and condom use intention among youth in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. International Journal of STD & AIDS 2002; 13: 714–9.
| CrossRef | CAS |


   
Subscriber Login
Username:
Password:  

 
    
Legal & Privacy | Contact Us | Help

CSIRO

© CSIRO 1996-2013