USING AN AIDS KABP SURVEY TO IDENTIFY DETERMINANTS OF CONDOM USE AMONG SEXUALLY ACTIVE ADULTS FROM ST-VINCENT-AND-THE-GRENADINES

In Fall 1990, a knowledge, attitude, belief, and practices (KABP) surv ey was administered to a representative sample of residents of St. Vin cent and the Grenadines, an island nation in the Eastern Caribbean. Th e KABP questionnaire contained a large number of questions that could reasonably be expected to be related to whether or not people use cond oms. To a certain extent, each of these questions can be viewed as an attempt to assess one of the variables identified by one or more theor ies of behavior and behavior change. More specifically, questions on t he KABP were identified as possible indicants of AIDS knowledge, cues to action, perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived (lo cus of) control, perceived normative pressure, and condom use outcome expectancies. Statistical analyses indicated that some, but not all, o f these variables were related to condom use among sexually active adu lts. In particular, the analyses indicated that perceived normative pr essure to use condoms was the single most important determinant of con dom use behaviors on St. Vincent. The implications of this finding for designing mass-media campaigns to increase condom use is discussed, a nd a campaign that attempts to change condom use by influencing percei ved social norms is strongly recommended.