Early Sexual Debut and Associated Factors among In-school Adolescents in Six Caribbean Countries

Peltzer, Karl; Pengpid, Supa

doi:10.7727/wimj.2014.025

Cited by 31 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Similar findings were found in some previous GSHS studies [9][10][11]15]. The majority of both man and woman students who ever had sexual intercourse had their sexual debut before the age of 15 (90.3% for girls and 72.7% for boys).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Sexual Intercourse and Its Correlates Among School-aged Adolescents in Indonesia: Analysis of the 2015 Global School-based Health Survey

Rizkianti

Maisya

Kusumawardani

et al. 2020

J Prev Med Public Health

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Methods: The survey was conducted among 11 110 students from 75 schools in Indonesia using a self-administered questionnaire. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to explore associations between sexual intercourse and socio-demographic variables, substance use, mental distress, and protective factors. Results: Overall, 5.3% of students reported having ever had sex (6.9% of boys and 3.8% of girls). Of students who engaged in sexual intercourse, 72.7% of boys and 90.3% of girls had an early sexual debut (before reaching the age of 15) and around 60% had multiple sex partners. Sexual intercourse was associated with gender, school grade, smoking, alcohol consumption, drug use, suicidal ideation, truancy, peer support, and parental supervision. Conclusions: These findings indicate a pressing need to develop more comprehensive sexual health education in the national curriculum. An effective strategy should also address other risky behaviours.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Sexual Intercourse and Its Correlates Among School-aged Adolescents in Indonesia: Analysis of the 2015 Global School-based Health Survey

Rizkianti

Maisya

Kusumawardani

et al. 2020

J Prev Med Public Health

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“…The main explanatory variable was age at sexual debut, which was measured based on the responses to the question: age at first intercourse. The cut-off for early sexual debut ranges from <15 ( 22 ), <16 ( 23 ) to <18 years ( 23 ) in different studies. For this study, we measured the prevalence of both thresholds and categorized as: <15 years, 15–17 years, ≥18 years.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Age at First Sexual Intercourse and Multiple Sexual Partnerships Among Women in Nigeria: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

Yaya

Bishwajit

2018

Front. Med.

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Background: Little is known about sexual behavior such as first sexual intercourse and number of sexual partnerships among women in Nigeria. Early sexual debut is a widely recognized public health issue due to its influence on higher lifetime sexual partners which in turn is associated with increased vulnerability to pregnancy complications, HIV/AIDS and other and sexually-transmitted diseases. In the present study, we attempted to explore the patterns of age of sexual debut and multiple sexual partnerships among women of reproductive age in Nigeria.Methods: Women who responded to the questions about the age at first sex and number of lifetime sex partners were selected from two latest rounds Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (DHS). In total 60,611 women aged between 15 and 49 years were selected for this analysis. Age at sexual debut was used as the predictor of multiple sexual partnerships which was assessed by multinomial regression models with logit link function in complex sample analysis mode.Results: The median age at first sex was 16 years (Interquartile range 16–24). Age at first sexual intercourse below the age of 19 years was reported by 30.8% of the women. Respectively 45.4% (95%CI = 42.9–47.9) 49.8% (95%CI = 47.8–51.7) of the women reported experiencing first intercourse before reaching 15 and 17 years, whereas 46.9% (95%CI = 45.2–48.7) of the women reported being monogamous and 47.2% (95%CI = 45.6–48.8) and 47.6% (95%CI = 43.8–51.3) had 2–3 and >3 lifetime sexual partners. In multivariable analysis after adjusting for confounding factors, women having sexual debut below 18 years were found to be significantly more likely to have 2–3 and more than 3 lifetime sexual partner.Conclusion: The study concludes that an increasing proportion of Nigerian women are experiencing sexual debut before reaching 15 years. The findings suggest that early sexual debut is associated with multiple sexual partnerships which may increase the risk of STIs. Stakeholders in health care system need to be aware that early sexual debut can be associated with successive unsafe sexual practices which can lead to adverse health outcomes including HIV infection and STIs, early marriage, unwanted pregnancy, and abortion. Therefore, it is important to design effective interventions to encourage women delay sexual debut to help prevent unintended pregnancies and decrease the disproportionate burden of adverse health outcomes.

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“…Gender issues for these children need to be explored and incorporated in response and provision (Heidari et al., 2012 ; Sherr et al., 2009 ). A recent six Caribbean country study by Peltzer and Pengpid ( 2015 ) showed that early sexual debut among boys was significantly higher than that among girls (37.2% versus 16.9%). This disparity was confirmed in an eight-country study across Africa which further showed that the associations and predictors differed by gender (Peltzer, 2010 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do not forget the boys – gender differences in children living in high HIV-affected communities in South Africa and Malawi in a longitudinal, community-based study

et al. 2016

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Gender is an important factor in child development. Especially in sub-Saharan Africa, girls have often been shown to be less likely to access education compared to boys. The consequence of this has been that that programmes addressing child development are often aimed at girls in order to redress gender imbalances. This study examines the effect of gender on the development of children attending community-based organisations in high HIV-affected areas, and explores whether community-based organisation attendance was associated with any changes in gender differences over time. Baseline data from 989 children and 12–15 month follow from 854 (86% response rate) were used to examine gender differences in children from Malawi and South Africa. At baseline, where there were differences by gender, these tended to disadvantage boys. It was found that boys were significantly more often found to be subjected to violence. Boys showed worse performance at school and more behavioural problems than girls. These gender differences persisted from baseline to follow-up. At follow-up, boys self-reported significantly worse average quality of life than girls. Only harsh discipline differed by gender in progression over time: boys experienced a stronger reduction in harsh physical discipline than girls from baseline to follow-up. Since harsh discipline was associated with boys’ worse educational outcomes and behavioural problems, our data cautiously suggests that gender differences could be reduced over time. In conclusion, our data suggests that, perhaps due to the narrow equity approach focusing on provision for girls, boys may be overlooked. As a result, there are some specific experiences where boys are generally worse off. These differences have distinct ramifications for the educational and emotional development of boys. A broader equity approach to child development might be warranted to ensure that the needs of both girls and boys are considered, and that boys are not overlooked.

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Early Sexual Debut and Associated Factors among In-school Adolescents in Six Caribbean Countries

Abstract: Objective: This report examines early sexual debut (< age

Cited by 31 publications

References 17 publications

Sexual Intercourse and Its Correlates Among School-aged Adolescents in Indonesia: Analysis of the 2015 Global School-based Health Survey

Sexual Intercourse and Its Correlates Among School-aged Adolescents in Indonesia: Analysis of the 2015 Global School-based Health Survey

Age at First Sexual Intercourse and Multiple Sexual Partnerships Among Women in Nigeria: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

Do not forget the boys – gender differences in children living in high HIV-affected communities in South Africa and Malawi in a longitudinal, community-based study

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