Examining attitudes, norms, and perceived control: Young African American males’ views of social media as a mode for condom use education

Abstract

Background Gender-based data indicates that within-race STI rate disparities exist for young African Americans males, (YAAMs) ages 18 to 24. Social media may prove to be a valuable tool for delivering theory-driven messages about sexual health knowledge and behaviors, including condom usage, directly to YAAMs in promoting safer sex behaviors for this population. Purpose To examine the current attitudes, norms and perceived controls related to the influence of social media on condom use among YAAMs ages 18 to 21. Methods Nine group-depth interviews were held with 41 participants, mean age 19, SD +1.2, were conducted in metro Detroit to understand use of social media for condom use education, and health messages among YAAMs ages 18 to 21. Results Participants demonstrated positive attitudes about using social media for condom use education. Social media sites that were educational (n = 12) and engaging (n = 5) made it easy to seek out sexual health information related to condom use. Similarly, participants liked social media for condom use education if the sites provided educational (n = 9) content and had creative advertisements. (n = 7). Top reasons to dislike social media as a mode for condom use education included negative comments (n = 6) displayed on the sites or if the site provided misinformation (n = 5) about the use of condoms. Conclusion The findings here can help healthcare providers, the community and researchers understand media preference, navigation, and better understand the role of social media in adolescent health care.

Keywords

• adolescent
• african american male
• sexual behavior
• social media
• and condoms