Condom Use with Serious and Casual Heterosexual Partners: Findings from a Community Venue-Based Survey of Young Adults

Given the racial/ethnic disparities that characterize STI trends and recent increases in heterosexually transmitted HIV infection in the US, an understanding of factors underlying condom use among young adults in minority communities is vitally important. To this end, this paper presents findings from a community venue-based survey examining the influence of motivations, heuristics, and relationship factors on condom behaviors with serious and casual heterosexual partners in a sample of urban African American and Puerto Rican males and females ages 18–25 (n = 380). Condom use rates at time of last sex were considerably higher with casual partners (n = 87) than with serious (n = 313) partners, 77.9% vs. 38.7%. While dual pregnancy/STI prevention was the most frequently cited reason for use at last sex with casual partners, pregnancy prevention was the most frequently cited reason for use with serious partners. Bivariate conditional logistic regression analyses found two factors to be associated with condom use at last sex with casual partners: use at first sex with the partner and belief that neighborhood peers worried some/a lot about HIV. In contrast, such factors as condom heuristics (e.g., nonuse symbolizes trust), contraceptive status, and markers of emotional intimacy were associated with condom use with serious partners in both bivariate and multivariable analyses.