Learning Objective #1: Know the relationship among self-efficacy depression and risky sexual behavior for adolescents' HIV/AIDS prevention

Learning Objective #2: Identify factors contributing to risky sexual behavior in the adolescent population

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Sexual contacts have been identified as a major exposure placing individuals at the risk of becoming HIV/AIDS infected. The increasing rates of HIV/ AIDS infections among young people demonstrated the needs for emphasizing the reduction of their risky sexual behaviors. Studies indicated that depressed adolescents manifested higher rates of risky sexual behavior. Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory proposed that people with higher self-efficacy are less likely to engage in risky sexual behavior; conversely, lower self-efficacy along with the presence of depression may increase the likelihood of engaging in risky sexual behavior. However, few studies examined the relationship among self-efficacy, depression, and adolescent risky sexual behavior. This cross-sectional correlational study intended to examine the hypothesized associations among selected variables. A total of 169, 16-18 year old, high school Taiwanese adolescents who had sexual intercourse experience completed three standardized instruments. AIDS- Prevention Self-Efficacy Scale, CES-D, and Safe Sexual Behavior Questionnaire were used to measure the selected variables. The sub-dimensions of each measurement were extracted through factor analysis and used for data analysis. Partial correlation was used to examine the relationships among the variables. Age, gender, and substance use, with known effects on the variables being studied as suggested by previous studies, were statistically controlled as covariates. Adolescents had less depressive symptoms regarding ‘positive affect' had lower self-efficacy ‘to refuse sexual intercourse' and ‘to question potential sexual partners'. Higher self-efficacy in all dimensions was strongly associated with less overall risky sexual behavior; More depressive symptom regarding “depressed affect” and ‘interpersonal interactions' were correlated to more risky sexual behavior in term of ‘without avoiding high-risk sexual intercourse'. Results from this study suggested that improving adolescents' HIV/AIDS preventive self-efficacy could be useful to reduce risky sexual behavior in adolescents. Moreover, while developing a HIV/AIDS preventive program for adolescents, depression is a factor that should be considered.