Influences of parental monitoring and school connectedness on age at first sexual debut among unmarried female youth in Bedele town, Ethiopia: A survival analysis of timing using accelerated failure time model

Abstract

Background The age of first sexual debut among youth continues to attract interest as it marks the start of their exposure to a variety of sexual and reproductive health problems. Parental monitoring (PM) and school connectedness (SC) has been found to have an effect on this problem. Despite this fact, there is a dearth of literature on implications of PM and SC on age at first sexual debut in Ethiopia. Therefore, this paper examined the influences of PM and SC age at first sexual debut among female youth. Methods A retrospective follow-up study was conducted on 470 randomly selected female youth in Bedele town, Oromia regional state, southwest Ethiopia from February 1 to March 30, 2021. The age at first sexual debut was asked in full years for respondents who ever engaged in sexual debut at a time of data collection. Data were entered using Epi-Data version 4.6 and analyzed using Stata version 14. All variables at P-values less than 0.2 in bivariable analysis were exported to multivariable analysis. Multivariable Accelerated Failure Time (AFT) regression analyses using Weibull distribution were used to examine the association of age at first sexual debut with PM and SC at 5% level of significance. Results Overall, 132(28.1%) youths were begun sexual activities of which 79.54% was an early (vaginal penetrative sex before 18 years old). The incidence rate was 15.58/1000 PY with 95% CI of [13.14, 18.47]. The result shows that, female youth start first sexual debut as early as 10 year and mean age was 16.89±2.82. Only 27.97% of those who began sexual debut used contraception during first sex. Multivariable Weibull AFT regression analyses adjusted for different variables showed that high PM (Adjusted Time Ratio (ATR) 1.13: 95%CI; [1.04, 1.21]) and good SC (ATR: 1.14: 95% CI; [1.06, 1.22] significantly delays the age at first sexual debut. Conclusions Overall, four out of every five premarital sexual activities were early sexual debuts. High PM and high SC significantly decrease early sexual debut by delaying the age of sexual initiation. Therefore, family and school involvement focused on PM and SC of the youth is recommended as an important mechanism for preventing youths’ risky sexual behaviour, including early sexual debut.

Knowledge and attitudes regarding contraceptive methods and sex education in students and parents of eight Colombian schools 2020–2021: a mixed methods study

“…Regarding knowledge and attitudes towards contraceptive methods among groups, it is usually women who have more knowledge, while some men mistakenly believe that family planning is the exclusive responsibility of their partner; specific teaching methodologies reinforce these conceptions by emphasizing the prevention and consequences of unprotected sex, especially for women. 24 , 29 , 30 On the other hand, previous literature reports agree that the frequency of knowledge and attitudes towards contraception tend to be lower in public schools than in private schools due to less access to sexual and reproductive health services and less rigorous or absent curricular programs on sexuality. 22 , 30 In this study, three of the six public schools included were located in rural areas, a factor that in other studies has been associated with poor knowledge.…”

“… 22 Other studies state that parents are the first source from which adolescents obtain information. 4 , 21 , 23 , 24 , 25 However, there are barriers to initiating dialogues on sexuality at home, such as shame, ignorance, distrust, denial, fear of legitimizing the initiation of sexual life, religious dogmas, lack of time, and generational gaps, among others. 15 , 22 , 26 For this reason, it is necessary to build relationships based on trust, to start the teaching process from a young age with basic subjects according to age, use appropriate language, transform educational paradigms, and rely on external people who can contribute assertively to the education of children.…”

“…This finding is consistent with the literature, which also adds associations with early sexual intercourse, pregnancy, multiple sexual partners, contraceptive myths, and risky manoeuvres to avoid pregnancy. 18 , 21 , 24 , 25 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 …”

The relationship between attitudes and porn viewing activities with pre-marital sexual behavior in adolescents

“…By monitoring teenagers closely, parents can intervene to modify their sexual decision-making, thereby reducing the likelihood of early sexual debut. Parents who demonstrate curiosity about their teenagers' activities, social circles, whereabouts, and establish clear expectations can effectively discourage pre-marital sexual behavior in adolescents (Debele et al, 2022).…”

Factors associated with the onset of sexual activity in adolescents: Analytic cross-sectional

“…En relación con esto, las debilidades sociales para la interacción se asocian con un inicio de actividad sexual, así como de ciertas conductas sexuales de riesgo [33][34][35] . En este tipo de población igualmente se ha descrito que un acompañamiento de los padres y una alta conexión con el colegio disminuyen el riesgo de inicio de actividad sexual durante la adolescencia, reafirmando la importancia de la intervención tanto de la familia como de las instituciones educativas en la prevención de comportamientos sexuales de riesgo, como lo descrito en un estudio realizado en Etiopia donde 4 de cada 5 inicios de actividad sexual se dieron de manera temprana en una población adolescente con hogares disfuncionales 36 .…”