Relationship between childhood sexual abuse and attitudes toward premarital sexual permissiveness among middle school students in Luzhou, China

Abstract

Background In recent years, the number of adolescents engaging in premarital sex has increased, and an increasing number of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) cases have been reported in China. Many studies have indicated that CSA has a well-established association with risky sexual activities. However, only a limited number of studies have explored possible reasons for this association among middle school students, a population that may engage in premarital sex, which is critical for the development of interventions to prevent risky sexual behavior. Based on random samples of middle school students from a Chinese city, this article investigated the relationship between CSA and students’ premarital sexual permissiveness (PSP). Methods In a cross-sectional study conducted between 2016 and 2017 in Luzhou, China, 2292 middle school and high school students aged 12–18 years were recruited by multistage random sampling. All students were administered anonymous questionnaires. Multiple linear regression and binary logistic regression analyses were conducted to analyze the relationship between CSA and PSP. Results The prevalence of CSA was 15.4% (354/2292; 95% CI: 14–16.9%). A higher percentage of male respondents (18.2%) than female respondents (12.9%) had experienced CSA. A positive association between CSA and PSP was found among students. Respondents who had suffered CSA exhibited greater PSP, and this relationship was observed in the male sample, female sample and the total student sample in Luzhou (β = − 3.76, P < 0.05; β = − 2.79, P < 0.05; and β = − 2.84, P < 0.05, respectively). Respondents who had suffered CSA were also more likely to express a double standard about premarital sex (odds ratio [OR] =1.41, P < 0.05), especially among male students (odds ratio [OR] =1.63, P < 0.05). Conclusions Sex differences in CSA and the relationship between CSA and PSP were significant among this large sample of middle school students in Luzhou (China). The findings suggest that experiencing CSA may be closely related to youth attitudes toward premarital sex, especially among males. Therefore, it is important to emphasize the prevention of CSA and provide adolescent reproductive health programs to reduce the impact of CSA on sexual cognition and attitude, prevent premarital sex and promote positive attitudes toward sexual equality for middle school students.

Sex Differences in the Association of the Severity of Childhood Sexual Abuse with Premarital Sex among Chinese College Students in Luzhou, China

“…According to the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) [24], individual behaviour is in uenced by a combination of three factors: behavioural attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control. In addition, earlier ndings from our research group showed that middle school students who had experienced CSA were more likely to have open attitudes about premarital sex [25]. CSA may also cause individuals who experience it to question social norms about sex and sexuality, which may in uence their sexual behaviour.…”

“…If a respondent answered "yes" to any of the above questions, he or she was de ned as having experienced CSA. Referring to the previous research [25], we classi ed the above 11 survey items into three categories: a ~ d were considered sexual harassment, e ~ i were considered sexual molestation, and j ~ k were considered sexual assault. We then identi ed four severity levels of CSA according to the following classi cation: "no" referred to none of the above categories being experienced.…”

“…We are interested in whether adolescents who experienced different severities of CSA behave differently in terms of premarital sexual behaviour. To fully explore the impact of the severity of CSA experiences and premarital sex among college students, this study referred to a de nition of CSA similar to that in our earlier article, which de ned CSA as sexual harassment, sexual molestation, and sexual assault [25]. We thus proposed Hypothesis 2 as follows: different levels of severity of CSA experience have different magnitudes of effect on premarital sexual behaviour.…”

Adollescent Characteristics Relation with Premarital Sex Attitudes

“…In China, there has been a shift in attitudes from being conservative to being open to premarital sex. Many influences from western culture, openness of the digital economy, policies on the age of marriage and early puberty support the agreeable attitude of premarital sex so that it is directly proportional to the prevalence of premarital sex behavior (Rong et al, 2022).…”

Sex differences in the association of childhood sexual abuse severity with premarital sex among Chinese college students in Luzhou, China

“…In most countries, the shift towards later marriage in recent decades has led to an increase in premarital sex, making sexual health in relation to premarital sex an important public health issue [ 1 ]. Contemporary Chinese college students have open attitudes towards premarital sexual behaviour, and premarital sex is common among college students [ 2 ]. The premarital sex rate reported in China from 2011 to 2019 ranged from 13.36 to 30.4%, accompanied by an increasing trend year by year [ 3 – 5 ].…”