Gender differences in the processes of change for condom use: patterns across stages of change in crack cocaine users

Interventions to increase condom use in crack users have had mixed results. For interventions to achieve greater success, the mechanisms of behavior c hange in this population need to be understood. One mechanism, the processe s of change, was examined across stages of change for condom use. Results f rom the analysis of variance for males and females revealed that stage of c hange was associated with different levels of three experiential processes: consciousness raising, social liberation and self-reevaluation. However, t hese analyses found that male and females seem to have different patterns o f behavioral process use. Specifically, females in the preparation stage we re different from those in precontemplation, whereas this difference was no t pronounced in males. In general, people had high levels of experiential p rocesses in every stage of change. The patterns of behavior process use mim icked patterns found for other behaviors with a linear increase across the stages of change. This may indicate that for maintaining condom use, more e motional and behavioral activities are required throughout the process of a cquisition and maintenance than are necessary for other health-related acti vities. Implications of this research are that interventions for increasing condom use in drug users may target behavioral steps differently for males and females.