The Mediating Role of Sexual Self-Efficacy on Protected Sex

BACKGROUND: Ascribed traditional gender role has rarely been examined in the topical area of protected sex. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between HIV knowledge, ascribed cultural gender roles of machismo and marianismo, acculturation, attitudes toward risky sexual behaviors and sexual self-efficacy on protected sex, and the mediating effect of sexual self-efficacy between these predictors and protected sex. METHODS: Part of a larger study, Hispanic college students from a Hispanic-serving institution in a U.S. southern border city were recruited. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Sexual self-efficacy was found a significant mitigating factor against sexual risks associated with machismo as well as a positive reinforcing element on attitudes toward protected sex. Study findings have implications toward the development of culturally sensitive evidence-based interventions that promote sexual self-efficacy skills among Hispanic males who strongly identify with culturally ascribed gender roles.