‘Let’s talk about condoms’: Development and validation of the Expanded Condom Negotiation Scale (ECNS)

Abstract

Existing scales assessing condom negotiation either focus on condom promotion or condom avoidance strategies and fail to offer a more-integrated understanding of the process. To address this, we proposed the Expanded Condom Negotiation Scale (ECNS) by combining items from two existing measures – the Condom Negotiation Scale (CNS) and the Condom Use Resistance Perpetration Survey (CURPS). We then conducted a psychometric study (N = 383; Mage = 31.54, SD = 10.73) to examine its validity, reliability, and sensitivity. The ECNS showed good construct validity, with items loading onto four reliable and correlated factors: (1) direct condom avoidance strategies, (2) indirect condom avoidance strategies, (3) direct condom promotion strategies, and (4) indirect condom promotion strategies. The scale also showed convergent validity, such that condom use strategies were differently associated with condom use self-efficacy, embarrassment about condom use, being comfortable with condom use, and condomless sex frequency. Lastly, the scale showed sensitivity, with differences emerging for age, gender, education, and occupation. This study makes valuable contributions towards a more comprehensive assessment of condom negotiation strategies and provides insights into individual differences in the use of specific condom negotiation strategies.