LONGITUDINAL CHANGES IN STAGES OF CHANGE FOR CONDOM USE IN WOMEN

Purpose. This study identifies how women naturally progress through th e Transtheoretical Model stages of condom use over a 1 year period usi ng the longitudinal dynamic methodology of latent transition analysis (LTA). Design. As part of a larger study of human immunodeficiency vir us risk in women, participants were assessed for their stage of condom use two times, 1 year apart. Subjects. A total of 491 women who compl eted both assessments of the study were included in this analysis. Mea sures. Stage of condom use was assessed using two questions, which pla ced women into one of five stages of change for condom use (alpha = .9 0). Results. Latent transition analysis identified the best-fitting mo del of naturalistic stage progression, which included both forward and backward movement. Precontemplation and maintenance were found to be the most stable stages (more than 50 % of the participants remaining i n that stage 1 year later), and the action stage was the least stable (15 % remaining in this stage). Transition probabilities for all stage s showed a high rate of relapse in the sample. Conclusions. A high pro portion of women will remain within their stage of condom use over a 1 -year period if no intervention is introduced. Interventions that are aimed at in creasing condom use in women need to incorporate relapse p revention. In addition, the transition probabilities for the stages wi ll help establish reasonable rates of change for intervention programs .