Attitudes towards Condom Usage among College-Going Women

Abstract

This thesis looks at differences in attitudes toward condom usage across ethnicities and age for college women. A 25 question MCAS Multidimensional Condom Attitudes Scale, along with three questions to measure cultural influence written by the researcher and a demographic survey was given to 100 female students on the campus of The College at Brockport. The survey sought to answer the primary research question: Is there a difference in attitudes towards condom usage among college-going Hispanic women and women of other ethnicities? The research question was constructed with a broader goal of exploring two questions of practical application: If the researcher were to discover that the general attitude toward condom use were to be assessed at a low level across ethnicities, what could be done to improve attitudes towards condom use and frequency of condom use? Secondly, if there were to be a difference in attitudes toward condom use between ethnicities, what would be the cause of such a difference? The ANOVA test determined that there was no statistically significant difference in attitudes towards condom usage in any of the five subscales between ethnic groups. Thus eliminating the question as to whether or not attitudes are culturally informed. Additionally, tests indicated that, although attitudes towards condom usage are generally positive, this did not appear to improve condom usage.