The Impact of Brief Interventions With Condom Demonstrations on Youth: A Systematic Review

Purpose

This review examined whether there is evidence that brief interventions with condom demonstration lessons have impacts on behavioral and nonbehavioral outcomes for youth and young adults.

Methods

We conducted a systematic review using a prespecified search strategy and processes consistent with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. We identified a pool of 11 eligible studies that tested the effectiveness of a single-session intervention that was no longer than 60 minutes and included a condom demonstration. We included all outcomes at all time points and organized them into eight domains.

Results

Single-session interventions with condom demonstrations showed favorable short-term and long-term impacts for samples of largely sexually active youth. Studies found statistically significant impacts in 29%–50% of the tests for effects on attitudes toward condoms, knowledge of sexual health and condom use, perceptions of condom use and sexuality, and condoms use intentions.

Discussion

Our review found evidence that brief interventions with condom demonstrations have potential effects on behavioral and nonbehavioral outcomes for vulnerable and transient sexually active youth warranting future studies to assess condom demonstrations in isolation.