Health Education Research, Vol. 16, No. 5, 541-553,
October 2001
© 2001 Oxford University Press
Gender differences in the processes of change for condom use: patterns across stages of change in crack cocaine users
1 Center for Health Promotion Research and Development, University of Texas-Houston School of Public Health, PO Box 20186, Houston, TX 77225,
2 Behavioral Research Group/NOVA Research Company, Houston, TX 77006,
3 Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center, Cancer Prevention, Detection and Control Research Program, Department of Community and Family Medicine, DUMC 2949, Durham, NC 27710,
4 University of Wyoming, Department of Psychology, Laramie, WY 82071 and
5 Comprehensive Drug Research Center, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, FL 33136, USA
Interventions to increase condom use in crack users have had mixed results. For interventions to achieve greater success, the mechanisms of behavior change in this population need to be understood. One mechanism, the processes of change, was examined across stages of change for condom use. Results from the analysis of variance for males and females revealed that stage of change was associated with different levels of three experiential processes: consciousness raising, social liberation and self-re-evaluation. However, these analyses found that male and females seem to have different patterns of behavioral process use. Specifically, females in the preparation stage were different from those in precontemplation, whereas this difference was not pronounced in males. In general, people had high levels of experiential processes in every stage of change. The patterns of behavior process use mimicked patterns found for other behaviors with a linear increase across the stages of change. This may indicate that for maintaining condom use, more emotional and behavioral activities are required throughout the process of acquisition and maintenance than are necessary for other health-related activities. Implications of this research are that interventions for increasing condom use in drug users may target behavioral steps differently for males and females.