Safer Sex Practice Among Female Chinese College Students and Its Antecedents: A Culture-Centered Approach

Abstract

In response to the increasing rates of HIV/AIDS among Chinese college students, this study investigated the informational, motivational, behavioral, and cultural factors affecting female college students’ sexual behavior and safer sex practice in China. An online survey was conducted on a purposive sample of 1,247 female Chinese college students. The study lent partial support to the Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills Model of AIDS-Preventive Behavior model in a non-U.S. context and revealed that among sexually active women, close adherence to a female gender role was associated with lower condom use in the current sexual culture in China. The findings could help public health practitioners tailor safe sex messages targeting young females.

Keywords:

• Safer sex
• female college students
• safer sex negotiation
• gender values
• China

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, Jilong Wang, upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Humanity and Social Science Youth Foundation of Ministry of Education of China under Grant no. 17YJCZH131.