+ 1-888-787-5890  
   + 1-302-351-4405  
 
 
 
 

Essay/Term paper: Condoms, std's, & pregnancy

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Medicine

Free essays available online are good but they will not follow the guidelines of your particular writing assignment. If you need a custom term paper on Medicine: Condoms, STD's, & Pregnancy, you can hire a professional writer here to write you a high quality authentic essay. While free essays can be traced by Turnitin (plagiarism detection program), our custom written essays will pass any plagiarism test. Our writing service will save you time and grade.

During the 1980s, efforts increased to alert the public to the dangers of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and unintended pregnancy, yet these problems have increased. Adolescents and young adults have been especially hard hit. Pregnancy and birth rates among teenagers are at their highest levels in two decades.

Research has demonstrated that consistent condom use is an effective way to prevent the transmission of HIV and other STDs and in the prevention of pregnancy.

Analyses of the Urban Institute"s National Survey of Adolescent Males (NSAM) show that although most sexually experienced teenage males have used condoms at least once, many do not use them consistently. Only 35 percent reported using a condom every time they had sex in the past year. But teenage males use condoms more than older men, and between 1979 and 1988 reported condom use among male teenagers doubled. These patterns indicate that teenagers are a promising target population for condom promotion efforts since they appear more ready than older men to change their behaviors.

Unfortunately, condom use among young men appears to have plateaued since 1988. Comparisons of 1988 and 1991 NSAM data show no change in rates of use.

Attitudes Related to Use

Condom use is higher among young men who worry more frequently about AIDS when the effects of other factors are held constant. Between 1988 and 1991, however, sexually experienced teenagers showed declines in the frequency with which they worried about AIDS, how serious they thought AIDS was, and the likelihood they would get AIDS. These reductions were associated with lower levels of condom use.

Male teenagers who think they will be embarrassed buying or using condoms, use them less consistently than those with higher embarrassment thresholds. If they think that the use of a condom will reduce the physical pleasure associated with intercourse, they are even less likely to use condoms. Anticipated loss of pleasure is one of the strongest correlates of reduced condom use.

Beliefs about male responsibility for contraception are also associated with condom use. Teenage males use condoms more often when they believe that men bear responsibility for initiating discussion of contraception with their female partners, refusing sexual intercourse if contraception is not used, helping to pay for the contraceptive pill, and assuming financial responsibility for any resulting children. Further work has shown that young men"s views of their contraceptive responsibility are very much related to their beliefs about masculinity.

Age Factors

Several surveys, including the NSAM, have found that the younger teenagers are when they initiate sex, the less likely they are to use contraception at that time. As sexually experienced male teenagers grow older, their use of condoms declines. Further analyses demonstrate that some of this decline is explained by changes in partner relationships.

Influence of Female Partners

As young men grow older, their female partners are more likely to use effective female methods of contraception, which appear to substitute for condoms. Indeed, pregnancy prevention, not STD prevention, appears to be the main reason that condoms are used when they are used. When young men who used a condom at last intercourse were asked why they did so, 83 percent said "to prevent pregnancy." Only 12 percent reported condom use to prevent disease and 2 percent to prevent both pregnancy and disease.

Further work suggests that condom use in a relationship drops off the longer a relationship lasts, the greater the frequency of intercourse, and the closer the relationship. It seems likely that over time the partners stop using condoms as the risk of STDs becomes less salient. However, there are two causes of concern. Informal assessment of a partner"s STD risk may not be very accurate. Also, teenagers change partners frequently and may not resume the habit of condom use, once having abandoned the precaution.

Another aspect of partner dynamics is the responsiveness of young men to their female partners" wish for them to use condoms. Indeed, one of the strongest predictors of condom use is the young man"s belief that his partner would appreciate his doing so.

Implications for Prevention Efforts

New strategies are needed to reach teenagers and change their behaviors.

Based on the NSAM survey results, the researchers recommend that condom promotion efforts target teenagers before they become sexually active. The promotion efforts should encourage them to delay the start of sexual relations and to use condoms consistently when they do start. These campaigns should focus on both young men and young women because the female partners" views are important predictors of male behavior. In addition, such efforts should be designed to help teenagers deal with their embarrassment, at using condoms and with their concern about the reduced sensation associated with condom use. Finally, the condom promotion should seek to strengthen young men"s beliefs about their contraceptive responsibility and address their views of masculinity. 

Other sample model essays:

Medicine / Crack
Cocaine Base (Crack Cocaine) As mentioned above, powder cocaine cannot be smoked unless chemically altered using the dangerous freebasing technique. Late summer of 1985, New York City drug dealer...
Medicine / Creation Science
Creationism is a religious metaphysical theory about the origin of the universe. It is not a scientific theory. Technically, creationism is not necessarily connected to any particular religion. It sim...
Medicine / Crickets
Insects have been a nuisance to man since the beginning of time, up until the present. One of the plagues that struck Egypt was swarms of crickets, and locusts, which destroyed crops, and ate enti...
Medicine / Crimonology
If you look up the word criminology in the dictionary it would be defined as a scientific study of crime as a social phenomenon. Social phenomenon? Say what? Criminology is a social science rathe...
Cultural evolution began to occur during the most recent Ice Age, or within the last hundred or fifty thousand years. This is when the tools that's are used for sophisticated hunting are found; for ...
Medicine / Cystic Fibrosis
Cystic fibrosis is the most common autosomal recessive genetic disease of white Indo-Europeans (Caucasians). Three main systems are usually affected by cystic fibrosis. These include the lungs and ...
Medicine / Dams
Many people have already dammed a small stream using sticks and mud by the time they become adults. Humans have used dams since early civilization, because four-thousand years ago they became awar...
1. System Architektur Folgende Tools werden von uns für verwendet, die es uns erlauben unseren Partnern eine sichere E-commerce Lösung anzubieten. · Apache Web Server · ...
The ozone layer diminishes more each year. As the area of polar ozone depletion (commonly called the ozone hole) gets larger, additional ultraviolet rays are allowed to pass through. These ...
DIABETES MELLITUS In the United States, about 16 million people suffer from diabetes mellitus, although only half of these individuals are diagnosed. Every year, about 650,000 people learn they ha...
Experience with Dream Essay - Reliable and great customer service. Quality of work - High quality of work.
, ,
Dream Essay - Very reliable and great customer service. Encourage other to try their service. Writer 91463 - Provided a well written Annotated Bibliography with great deal of detail per th
, ,
it is always perfect
, ,
The experience with Dream Essay is stress free. Service is excellent and forms various forms of communication all help with customer service. Dream Essay is customer oriented. Writer 17663
, ,
Only competent & proven writers
Original writing — no plagiarism
Our papers are never resold or reused, period
Satisfaction guarantee — free unlimited revisions
Client-friendly money back guarantee
Total confidentiality & privacy
Guaranteed deadlines
Live Chat & 24/7 customer support
All academic and professional subjects
All difficulty levels
12pt Times New Roman font, double spaced, 1 inch margins
The fastest turnaround in the industry
Fully documented research — free bibliography guaranteed
Fax (additional info): 866-332-0244
Fax (additional info): 866-308-7123
Live Chat Support
Need order related assistance?—Click here to submit a inquiry
© Dreamessays.com. All Rights Reserved.
Dreamessays.com is the property of MEDIATECH LTD