EXCERPT:
Exposure to pornography, such as reading/seeing pornographic materials, was significantly associated with an early sexual debut. Respondents who were exposed to pornography were 7.4 times more likely to be an early sexual debutante than those that had no exposure to pornography (AOR=7.4; 95% CI: 4.4, 11.78). This is comparable to findings from Debremarkos, Ethiopia, Bahr dar, Ethiopia, North-East Ethiopia [4, 19, 20].
Pan Afr Med J. 2019 Sep 1;34:1. doi: 10.11604/pamj.2019.34.1.17139. eCollection 2019.
Girmay A1, Mariye T1, Gerensea H2.
Abstract
Introduction:
Early sexual debut is common among young people and it has several sexual and reproductive health consequences. But, its burden and the associated factors leading to this behavior haven’t received due attention. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence and associated factors of sexual debut in the preparatory and high school students of Aksum town.
Methods:
A school-based quantitative cross-sectional study design was used for this research work. A total of 519 preparatory and high school regular students participated in the survey. The sample population was obtained by using a simple random sampling technique from each schooling proportion with their number of students. Data, that were collected using self administered questionnaires, were entered into EpiData 3.02 and analyzed in SPSS 22.0. Results were presented using frequencies, tables and graphs. Statistical significance was declared at a P-value <0.05.
Results:
Of the total participants, 266 (51.3%) were males. The age of the participants ranged from 13 to 23 years with a mean age of 16.3 ± 1.47 years. Of the total participants, 137(26.2%) had sexual experience, among which 119 (87.5%) had an early sexual debut at an average age of 13.7 + 1.4 years. Factors that were found to be significantly associated with an early sexual debut were gender (AOR=3.41; 95% CI: 1.54, 6.99), residence (AOR=0.44; 95% CI: 0.27, 0.81), alcohol drinking (AOR=5.5; 95% CI: 2.2, 14.8), cigarette smoking (AOR=3.3; 95% CI: 2.3, 7.5), exposure to pornography, such as reading/seeing pornographic materials (AOR=7.4; 95% CI: 4.4, 11.78), living arrangement for educational purpose (AOR= 0.43; 95% CI: 0.13, 0.89), grade (AOR=0.38; 95% CI: 0.06, 0.68) and monthly living allowance (AOR=0.419; 95% CI: 0.2, 0.9).
Conclusion:
A significant number of students reported early sexual debut. Gender, place of residence, alcohol drinking, cigarette smoking, exposure to pornography, grade and living arrangement for educational purpose and monthly living allowance were significant predictors of an early sexual debut.
KEYWORDS: Ethiopia; Sexual debut; adolescent
PMID: 31762870
PMCID: PMC6850738
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