Reducing Adolescent Sexual Risk: A Theoretical - ETR Associates

feelings may reduce their self-efficacy to speakpublicly. If their anxiety is reduced, then theirself-efficacy and chances of success may increase.Applying These Theoriesto Teen Self-Efficacy andSexual BehaviorIn order to avoid undesired or unprotected sexualactivity, pregnancy and STD, youth need at leastfive distinct skills. These include the ability to:1. Avoid situations that might lead to undesired,unintended, or unprotected sexual activity2. Refrain from and refuse undesired, unintended orunprotected sexual activity3. Obtain condoms or other forms of contraception4. Insist on using condoms or other forms of contraception,if having sexual activity5. Actually use condoms or other forms of contraceptioneffectively, if having sexual activityWhen applying Bandura’s theories on self-efficacyto teen sexual behavior, three questions should beasked.1. Does teens’ self-efficacy to engage in these fivebehaviors affect their own sexual and contraceptivebehaviors?2. Can we increase self-efficacy?3. How do we increase self-efficacy and improveskills?Does teens’ self-efficacy to engage in these fivebehaviors affect their own sexual and contraceptivebehaviors?According to social cognitive theory, if teens havegreater self-efficacy to perform the five specific skillsabove, they will be more likely to use them to avoidundesired or unintended sex or to use condoms orother forms of contraceptives if they do have sex.Multiple studies confirm this basic component ofsocial cognitive theory. A review of many studies ofrisk and protective factors of teen sexual behaviorrevealed that of the nine studies that measured theimpact of self-efficacy to refrain from sex on actualinitiation of sex, five found that self-efficacy torefrain from sex was significantly related to delayedinitiation of sex (Table 7-1) (Kirby and Lepore2007). None of the studies found that it hastenedthe initiation of sex. The fact that four of the ninestudies failed to find a significant relationshipbetween self-efficacy to refrain from sex and actualsexual behavior may reflect measurement problems,small sample sizes, ceiling effects (youth sometimesrate themselves high on self-efficacy when they havenot been in the situations needing the skill) andother methodological problems. Or perhaps it mayindicate that self-efficacy is, in fact, not related toinitiation of sex in all groups of teens. It also shouldbe noted that the review of studies did not distinguishbetween the ability to avoid situations thatmight lead to sex and the ability to refrain from sexor refuse sex.Only three studies measured the impact of selfefficacyto insist on condom use on actual condomuse; all three found positive effects (Table 7-2)(Kirby and Lepore 2007). Although this is a smallnumber of studies, the consistency of the resultsTable7-1Table7-2Number of Studies Reporting Effectsof Self-Efficacy to Refrain from Sex onTeens’ Own Sexual BehaviorSelf-efficacy to refrainfrom sex (N=9)Self-efficacy to insist oncondom or contraceptiveuse (N=3)LaterInitiationof SexNumber of Studies Reporting Effects ofSelf-Efficacy to Insist on Condom/Contraceptive Use on Teens’ Own Condom/Contraceptive UseIncreased Useof Condomsor OtherContraceptivesNoSignificantEffectsNoSignificantEffectsEarlierInitiationof Sex5 4 0Reduced Useof Condomsor OtherContraceptives3 0 0Chapter 7 Increasing Self-Efficacy and Skills 85