Premarital Sexual Behaviours among Secondary School Adolescents: A Cross-sectional Study in Kathmandu

Abstract

Young people’s sexuality is often stigmatized in South Asian societies, including Nepal, where premarital sex is not accepted socially and culturally. However, the prevalence of early sexual activities among adolescents has increased over time. Given this background, this paper aimed to explore the prevalence of premarital sexual behaviour among the urban high school adolescents. This study utilized a cross-sectional design and collected a total of 609 students of grade 9-12 [ages 10-19] from both community and institutional schools in the Kathmandu metropolis. A validated structured questionnaire was employed and data were analyzed using SPSS with version 24. Univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analyses were performed to interpret the results. The study showed that the mean age of the respondents was 16 years. More than half of adolescents (52.4%) ever watched pornography, amongst whom eight percent did it on a regular basis. Similarly, 14 percent of in-school adolescents ever experienced premarital vaginal sexual intercourse, where the median age for the sexual debut was 16 years. Male respondents tended to be 13 times more likely to have premarital sex compared to the girls. Respondents who were exposed to pornography materials were likely to be exposed by 5.7 times higher than that who were not. Further, 48 percent respondents who ever had sex did not use condoms during their first sexual intercourse, followed by 45 percent who had multiple sex partners.The study concluded that a notable proportion of adolescents was involved in premarital sexual behaviours followed with vaginal sexual intercourse, especially among the boy students. Hence, the results of this study suggest school-based comprehensive sexuality education to minimize the risky sexual behaviour and promote the safer sexual activities among the secondary level school adolescents. 

Prevalence and associated factors of premarital sexual behavior among undergraduate youths of management colleges of Dhangadhi Sub-Metropolitan city, Kailali, Nepal

“…This study found that nearly half of the youths had multiple sex partners with more than one-third of youths having more than 2 sex partners. Similar findings have been presented by Paudel and colleagues in their web-based study in Nepal (17) and by Upreti and Acharya (14) in Kathmandu.…”

“…This study found that the prevalence of premarital sex among undergraduate college youths in DMPC was 35.3%. Studies conducted in other parts of Nepal have reported a lower prevalence of premarital sex: Kathmandu 13.5% (14), Pokhara 24.6% (15), Jhapa 25% (16) and Web-based survey 21.2% (17). Among those who experienced premarital sex, one in two youths experienced it after they were enrolled in college and before the age of 18 years.…”

Risky Sexual Behavior and its Determinants among Undergraduate Hostellers of Kathmandu Metropolitan City

“…[11] In compatible with these findings, practice of risky sexual behavior showed statistical significance with age; sex; living arrangements; mother occupation and education; smoking and alcohol consumption of the participants in a studies executed among youths; secondary school adolescents; and young men in Nepal. [18][19][20] Similar the association of practice towards risky sexual behavior, the multiple other findings were shared by a studies executed from different countries such as:…”

Increasing Knowledge About the Dangers of Pornography on Adolescent Brain Development in Students of SMA Negeri 1 Sungai Pinang, Ogan ilir Regency

“…Kondisi yang terjadi di negara Nepal, hasil penelitian yang dilakukan pada 573 orang remaja pria didapatkan informasi bahwa aktivitas seksual yang dilakukan kalangan siswa Pengalaman mencium seorang gadis, berkencan, meletakkan tangan di dada seorang gadis, menempatkan tangan di organ seks seorang gadis, berhubungan seksual, seks pranikah, Memiliki teman dekat yang belum menikah dengan pengalaman (Adhikari & Tamang, 2009a). Penelitian lain yang dilakukan (Upreti & Acharya, 2020) Lebih dari separuh remaja (52,4%) pernah menonton pornografi, di antaranya delapan persen melakukannya secara teratur. Demikian pula, 14 persen remaja di sekolah pernah melakukan hubungan seksual pervaginam pranikah, di mana usia rata-rata untuk debut seksual adalah 16 tahun, didominasi oleh priayang cenderung 13 kali lebih mungkin untuk melakukan hubungan seks pranikah dibandingkan dengan anak perempuan.…”

“…Demikian pula, 14 persen remaja di sekolah pernah melakukan hubungan seksual pervaginam pranikah, di mana usia rata-rata untuk debut seksual adalah 16 tahun, didominasi oleh priayang cenderung 13 kali lebih mungkin untuk melakukan hubungan seks pranikah dibandingkan dengan anak perempuan. Responden yang terpapar materi pornografi berpeluang 5,7 kali lebih tinggi terpapar materi pornografi dibandingkan yang tidak (Upreti & Acharya, 2020).…”