Responses to survey questions on whether adolescents are “confident,“ “somewhat confident,“ “unsure,“ or “not confident“ that they could convince their partner(s) to use a contraceptive/condom if desired

Data Source(s):

Surveys of program clients and participants or adoles­cents in the program‘s intended population

Purpose:

This indicator measures the level of confidence or “per­ceived self-efficacy“ of adolescents desiring protec­tion to successfully negotiate contraceptive/condom use with their partner(s) if desired. Like the ability/ skill to resist social pressure to have sex, many adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health (AYSRH) education programs emphasize negotiation skills with regard to contraceptive/condom use. This indicator is particularly important for girls in developing countries, because many have limited negotiation skills or power to convince sexual partners to use contraceptives/ condoms. The indicator can thus measure the effec­tiveness of such skill-based educational programs in increasing adolescents‘ self-efficacy at contraceptive use. Like the previous indicator, this indicator mea­sures perceived self-efficacy, which may or may not correspond to actual behaviors in real-life situations.

Issue(s):

Although one may be confident they could get their partner to use contraceptives/condoms, when put in a situation where their partner is refusing, the reality may be quite different.  Evaluators must be mindful that it is human nature to want to appear to be or believe you are more confident and in-control than what may actually be the case.