Using Implementation Intentions to Increase Safe Sex Practices Among and Australian Sample of Men Who Have Sex With Men

The purpose of this study is two-fold. The first part of the study aims to assess the validity of a theory of health behaviour, known as the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) in predicting condom use in and Australian sample of men who have sex with men (MSM). The TPB states that a person's intention to use condoms is the best predictor of their actual condom use behaviour. The TPB indicates that intention is predicted by an individual's attitude towards condom use, whether they believe their family and friends feel that they should use condoms (known as "subjective norm"), and how much control the person feels that they have over condom use (known as perceived behavioral control). In order to measure this, participants will be asked to complete questions regarding their attitudes, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, intention towards condom use, and actual condom use behavior. It is expected that the TPB will be successful in predicting condom use in this population.

The second part of the study aims to assess whether two different interventions are effective in increasing condom use among men who have sex with men (MSM).

The first intervention is known as "implementation intentions" and asks that participants specify when, where and how they might increase their condom use in the future (e.g. by buying condoms). It is predicted that in making this plan that the likelihood of preparing to use condoms will increase as will actual condom use.

The second intervention asks participants to practice a task several times per week that is thought to improve planning ability. The task is known as "The Tower of Hanoi" which is a computer based program that requires participants to shift discs across three different pegs in and ordered and planned way. It is thought that this practice can improve an individual's planning ability. It is thought that this planning ability may then generalise to other tasks such as planning to use condoms. It is predicted that this intervention will increase actual condom use among this population.

A control group that receives no intervention will also be employed.