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Psychometric evaluation of the Condom Barriers and Motivations Scale (CBMS)

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Abstract

The Condom Barriers and Motivations Scale (CBMS) was developed to measure four distinct categories of barriers and motives to condom use, including: risk reduction motivations, pleasure reduction barriers, intimacy interference barriers, and partner pressure barriers. The CBMS is a 16-item scale with four items that correspond to each of these subscales. The CBMS was tested in two samples of gay and bisexual men. Results support the reliability and validity of the scale and its structure. Results also indicate that CBMS subscales are distinct from general measures of sexual wellbeing, personality factors, or relationship quality (i.e., discriminant validity) and are associated with self-reported condom use with different partner types (i.e., construct validity). The CBMS can be helpful in better understanding the dynamics of condom use in the context of pre-exposure prophylaxis decision-making, and can shed light on innovative approaches to enhance condom use as part of comprehensive HIV prevention and sexual health goals.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the hard work of members of the Hunter HIV/AIDS Research Team (HART), including Anthony Surace, Kailip Boonrai, Corina Lelutiu-Weinberger, Inna Saboshchuk, and Louisa Thompson. We also thank Dr. Jeffrey Parsons and the staff at the Center for HIV Educational Studies and Training. We are grateful to the participants who gave their time and energy to this study, and to Dr. Willo Pequegnat and Dr. Michael Stirratt for their support.

Funding

This project was funded by R01MH095565 and R01AA022067 (S.A. Golub, PI) from the National Institutes of Mental Health and Kristi Gamarel was supported by Grant U24AA022000 (D. Operario, PI) from the National Institutes of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Hunter College of the City University of New York, 695 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10065, USA

    Sarit A. Golub

  2. Basic and Applied Social Psychology PhD Program, The Graduate Center of the City University of New York, New York, NY, USA

    Sarit A. Golub

  3. Hunter HIV/AIDS Research Team (HART), New York, NY, USA

    Sarit A. Golub & Kristi E. Gamarel

  4. Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, RI, USA

    Kristi E. Gamarel

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  1. Sarit A. Golub
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  2. Kristi E. Gamarel
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Correspondence to Sarit A. Golub.

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Conflicts of interest

As part of an NIH-funded PrEP Demonstration Project (R01AA022067), Sarit Golub receives study drug and partial support for DBS testing from Gilead Sciences. Kristi Gamarel declares that she has no conflict of interest.

Human and animal rights and Informed consent

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Golub, S.A., Gamarel, K.E. Psychometric evaluation of the Condom Barriers and Motivations Scale (CBMS). J Behav Med 40, 494–505 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-016-9815-x

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