Health Psychology : a Textbook

73 per cent had had female partners and 60 per cent had had at least one male and one

female partner. In terms of their condom use with their current partner, 25 per cent

reported always using a condom with their current male partner, 12 per cent reported

always using a condom with their current female partner, 27 per cent reported some-

times/never using a condom with their male partner and 38 per cent reported some-

times/never using a condom with their female partner. In terms of their non-current

partner, 30 per cent had had unprotected sex with a man and 34 per cent had had

unprotected sex with a woman. Bisexuals are believed to present a bridge between the

homosexual and heterosexual populations and these data suggest that their frequency of

condom use is low. This highlights a need to identify possible reasons for this behaviour.

Changes in condom use

In an attempt to examine the effects of HIV prevention educational campaigns in The

Netherlands, Hooykaas et al. (1991) examined changes in sexual behaviour in 340

heterosexual men and women and prostitutes. They reported that over the one-year

follow-up, condom use during vaginal intercourse with prostitutes/clients was high and

remained high, condom use with private partners was low and remained low, but that

both men and women reduced their number of sexual partners by 50 per cent.

The results from the General Household Survey (1993) provided some further insights

into changes in condom use in Britain from 1983 to 1991 (see Figure 8.3). These data

indicate an overall increase in condom use as the usual form of contraception, which is

particularly apparent in the younger age groups. However, not all research indicates

such an increase. Early data from San Francisco, which had one of the highest homo-

sexual incidences of HIV, showed that by the late 1980s the incidence of new HIV

infections had fallen dramatically and that by the late 1990s had become essentially

stable (Katz 1997; Schwarcz et al. in press). However, since this time there has been an

increase in rectal gonorrhoea and clinical experience, cross-sectional and longitudinal

Fig. 8-3 Changes in the use of condoms as the usual method of contraception by age,

1983 – 91 (after General Household Survey 1993)

196 HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY