Abstract:
Accurate assessment of self-reports of sexual behaviours is vital to the evaluation of HIV prevention and
family planning interventions. This investigation was to determine the cross-cultural suitability of the Condom Use Self
Efficacy Scale (CUSES) originally developed for American adolescents and young adults by examining the structure and
psychometric properties.
Method: A self-administered cross-sectional survey of a convenient sample of 511 participants from a private
university in Ghana with mean age 21.59 years.
Result: A Principal Component Analysis with varimax rotation identified a 14 item scale with four reliable factors
labelled Appropriation (Cronbach alpha = .85), Assertive (Cronbach alpha = .90), Pleasure and Intoxicant (Cronbach
alpha = .83), and STDs (Cronbach alpha = .81) that altogether explained 73.72% of the total variance. The scale
correlated well with a measure of condom use at past sexual encounter (r = .73), indicating evidence of construct and
discriminatory validity. The factor loadings were similar to the original CUSES scale but not identical suggesting
relevant cultural variations.
Conclusion: The 14 item scale (CUSES-G) is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing condom use self efficacy. It is
culturally appropriate for use among Ghanaian youth to gauge actual condom use and to evaluate interventions
meant to increase condom use. Finally, the study cautioned researchers against the use of the original CUSES without
validation in African settings and contexts.
