Community structure and timing of sexual activity among adolescent girls in Nigeria

Abstract

Studies have linked the timing of sexual debut to unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmissible infections, including HIV. Current understandings of sexual debut among Nigerian adolescents focused on the roles of individual and familial characteristics. We leveraged the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey data to examine how community features like affluence, ethnic diversity, and women empowerment may be associated with the timing of sexual debut among adolescent girls. The sample comprised 7449 adolescent girls who were usual residents in 6,505 households and 1,352 clusters or communities. Statistical associations between community characteristics and the onset of sexual debut were assessed using a two-level mixed-effects parametric survival model with Weibull distribution. We found that community affluence [aHR:0.43, 95%CI: 0.30–0.62] and community ethnic diversity [aHR: 0.63, 95%CI: 0.42–0.94] are associated with a lower hazard of sexual debut among adolescent girls. We also observed that women that married within the observation period had an earlier sexual initiation than those who were unmarried. The results disaggregated by marital status further shows that higher community level of women’s employment [aHR: 2.45, 95%CI: 1.38–4.38] and women’s education [aHR:1.85, 95%CI: 1.03–3.33] were associated with a higher hazard of sexual debut among unmarried adolescent girls but not married adolescent girls. Higher community affluence [aHR:0.40, 95%CI: 0.27–0.60] was also associated with a lower hazard of sexual debut among unmarried adolescent girls but not married adolescent girls. Our results illuminate the associated factors of the timing of sexual debut among adolescent girls that moves beyond individual characteristics to community characteristics.

Socio-economic disparities and predictors of fertility among adolescents aged 15 to 19 in Zambia: Evidence from the Zambia Demographic and Health Survey (2018)

“…The findings suggests that married adolescent girls had a higher chance of having multiple children compared to those who were not. This aligns with research conducted in various African countries, including Burundi, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Kenya, Congo, and Central Africa, where early marriages have been identified as a significant factor contributing to high fertility rates [ 23 , 36 – 38 ]. This implies that early child marriages play a central role in driving increased adolescent fertility.…”

Socio-economic disparities and predictors of fertility among adolescents aged 15 to 19 in Zambia: Evidence from the Zambia demographic and health survey (2018)

“…Marital status in the study similarly predicted adolescent fertility that is the findings suggests that adolescent girls who are married had a higher chance of having multiple children compared to those who were not. This aligns with research conducted in various African countries, including Burundi, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Kenya, Congo, and Central Africa, where early marriages have been identified as a significant factor contributing to high fertility rates [18, 31, 32, 33]. This implies that early child marriages play a central role in driving increased adolescent fertility.…”

Factors associated with adolescent pregnancy and public health interventions to address in Nigeria: a scoping review

“…The high rate of adolescent pregnancy in Nigeria has been attributed to various factors, including early onset of menarche among females, early initiation of sexual activity, early marriage, low socioeconomic status, economic insecurity, ineffective use of contraception, low educational and career aspirations, residence in a single-parent home, poor family relationships, and deterioration of traditional African values [ 4 , 69 ].…”