Predictors of sexual risk behaviour among adolescents from welfare institutions in Malaysia: a cross sectional study

Abstract

Background: In welfare institutions, it is essential to address the health-related needs of adolescent populations who often engage in sexual activities. This study examines the association between individual and interpersonal factors concerning sexual risk behaviour (SRB) among adolescents in welfare institutions in Malaysia. Methods: Data were derived from a cross-sectional study of 1082 adolescents in 22 welfare institutions located across Peninsular Malaysia in 2009. Using supervised self-administered questionnaires, adolescents were asked to assess their self-esteem and to complete questions on pubertal onset, substance use, family structure, family connectedness, parental monitoring, and peer pressure. SRB was measured through scoring of five items: sexual initiation, age of sexual debut, number of sexual partners, condom use, and sex with high-risk partners. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to examine the various predictors of sexual risk behaviour. Results: The study showed that 55.1% (95%CI = 52.0-58.2) of the total sample was observed to practice sexual risk behaviours. Smoking was the strongest predictor of SRB among male adolescents (OR = 10.3, 95%CI = 1.25-83.9). Among females, high family connectedness (OR = 3.13, 95%CI = 1.64-5.95) seemed to predict the behaviour. Conclusion: There were clear gender differences in predicting SRB. Thus, a gender-specific sexual and reproductive health intervention for institutionalised adolescents is recommended.

Prevalence of factors related to active reproductive health behavior: a cross-sectional study Indonesian adolescent

“…These results are high compared to the sexual behavior of adolescents in the city of Pontianak, Indonesia (19.2%) [19], although they are lower than levels reported in Malaysia (55.1%) [20]. This difference in results may at least partially reflect differences in the age range of participants (13 to 15 years old in Pontianak and 12 to 19 years old in Malaysia); age is associated with the development of sexual maturity and its effect on sexual behavior, although these studies were conducted in similar sociocultural backgrounds.…”

The Young Male Cigarette and Alcohol Syndrome

“…Similarly, recent studies indicate that the high participation of men in drinking games can be (partially) explained by men's higher mating efforts and higher sexual motivation (Hone, Carter, & Mccullough, 2013;Hone & McCullough, 2015). Furthermore, also smoking seems to be related to following a more risky and short-term-oriented sexual approach (Farid, Rus, Dahlui, Al-Sadat, & Aziz, 2014;Långström & Hanson, 2006), in which young adults putting a lot of effort in attracting sexual partners are more willing to smoke in social situations (Jones & Figueredo, 2007). In addition, Hill and Chow (2002) link risky drinking to reproductive success in young men.…”

Experiência de educação em saúde sobre sexualidade com adolescentes institucionalizados

“…Constituem indicadores de risco psicossociais: violência, doenças sexualmente transmissíveis (DSTs), gravidez na adolescência, prática de aborto, uso de drogas e/ou condutas infracionais, os quais se intensificam diante de agravos sociais presentes em comunidades marginais aos grandes centros urbanos, tornando-se um problema de saúde pública e, mais especificamente, um desafio para a educação em saúde (1)(2)(3)(4)(5) .…”

“…O desenvolvimento de projetos intersetoriais voltados para a promoção da saúde é importante para que a população jovem tenha uma vivência de forma mais plena e saudável da sexualidade, podendo promover mudanças na dinâmica em todos os ambientes, ocasionando ação integradora pró-saúde nos mais variados espaços sociais, num esforço conjunto pelos mais diversos setores e instituições da sociedade (10,17) , o que se torna ainda mais imprescindível em espaços de atenção psicossocial onde os adolescentes se encontram institucionalizados (2) .…”