title: Gender relations and sexual communication among female students in the Mekong River Delta of Vietnam.
abstract: Young women's ability to pursue a safer-sex life in line with their wishes is crucial to their sexual health. Although some previous observations have suggested that young women's lack of ability to negotiate safer sex is due to gender power imbalances in the culture of Vietnam, studies that have tested this hypothesis explicitly and quantitatively are few and far between. The present study aimed to test the association between perceived gender relations and perceived self-efficacy in communicating sexual matters among undergraduate female students in the Mekong River Delta of Vietnam. The analysis involved secondary data from 260 subjects from a larger survey regarding gender equity. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the study's hypothesis. Results showed that adherence to traditional gender roles and norms was significantly associated with female students' reduced self-efficacy to communicate on safer-sex matters, such as refusing unwanted sex or requesting condom use. This association remained invariant in the cross-validation process between partnered and unpartnered groups. Programmes that aim to promote safer-sex negotiation and practices for this population may need to address the influence of gender relations and power.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, University of Texas at Houston, TX, USA. thanh.c.bui@uth.tmc.edu
authors.forename: Thanh Cong
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Bui
authors.forename: Pamela M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Diamond
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Markham
authors.forename: Michael W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Ross
authors.forename: Thanh-An
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Nguyen-Le
authors.forename: Ly Hai Thi
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Tran
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D012747:Sexual Partners / Q000523:psychology*; D012919:Social Behavior; D012923:Social Class; D012938:Social Perception; D012944:Social Support; D012945:Social Values; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014744:Vietnam; D016387:Women's Health; D055815:Young Adult