Factors associated with early sexual initiation among preparatory and high school youths in Woldia town, northeast Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background Early initiation of sexual activity affects the sexual and reproductive health of the young population. The youth are at a high risk of risky sexual behaviours, including multiple partners and inconsistent condom use. There has been limited research on the level and determinants of early sexual initiation in Woldia town. Thus, this study aimed to assess the prevalence of early sexual initiation and associated factors among preparatory and high school students in Woldia town, northeast Ethiopia. Methods An institution based cross-sectional study was conducted on 723 students selected by the simple random sampling technique on March 7, 2016. A pre-tested and structured self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Descriptive statistics, bivariate and multivariable logistic regression were computed. Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated to examine the strength of association. In the multivariable analysis, a p -value < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Result The prevalence of early sexual initiation among preparatory and high school students in Woldia town was 18.4% (95% CI:15.50,21.30%). Not attending religious programs (AOR = 3.2, 95% CI:1.84,5.44), peer pressure (AOR = 1.9, 95% CI:1.14,3.25), cigarette smoking (AOR = 2.3, 95% CI:1.06,4.85), poor parental monitoring (AOR = 2.8, 95% CI:1.77,4.53), and exposure to pornographic materials (AOR = 2.7, 95% CI:1.68,4.40) were significantly associated with early sexual initiation. Conclusion A large number of students initiated sexual activity at an early age. The practiced is associated with sexual and reproductive health problems. Therefore, raising awareness of students about the risk factors for and implication of early sexual initiation through teachers, religious leaders, and parents is highly recommended. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12889-019-6682-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Prevalence of Premarital Sex and Related Risky Practices Among Students of Ayer Tena Health Science and Business College, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: A cross-sectional study

“…Our nding that premarital sex is more common among those students who watch pornography than those who do not is in agreement with a similar study conducted among students of Debre Berhan and Bahir Dar Universities [22,23]. The effect of watching pornography on premarital sexual practice is also evident among high school students in Ethiopia [39,40,44]. The most probable reason for higher frequency of premarital sex among pornography watchers is that watching pornography stimulates them to have sex.…”

Premarital sexual practice and its associated factors in Ethiopia. A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Moreover, the likelihood of premarital sexual practice among female was higher, when compared with male counterparts. This is because the effect of culture forces females to be exposed towards premarital sex than their male counterparts and most girls have a belief that they become ready to do anything to make their love succeed [17]. In contrast to the report from this systematic review and meta-analysis, studies from Nepal and Vietnam showed male were more likely to be involved in premarital sex than female [4,6,54], because mostly men have freedom to decide on major tasks in their life.…”

“…The likely hood of premarital sexual practice among those individuals viewing pornography (sex lm) was 3.24 times higher than those not seen pornography with OR = 3.24, (95% CI; 1.95, 5.38) ( gure-3 and gure-4). Young age is more liberal towards their sexual behaviors [17].…”

“…Once more, similar with the reports from Asian countries and Nepal [10,54], Youths who drink alcohol were more likely get involved in premarital sexual practice than those who didn't drink alcohol. This can be possibly explained by that risky sexual behavior such as smoking and alcohol drinking is associated with higher approval of premarital sexual practice [5,6,17].…”

“…Involvement in gang activities, drinking, smoking, living in low cost housing, dropping out of school, previously sexually abuse, peer pressure and having friends were explored as factors of premarital sexual practice [10,16,17].…”