Differential effects of religiosity on sexual initiation among Nigerian in-school adolescents
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Olayinka Yetunde Asubiaro
Abstract
Background: Sexual initiation in adolescence has significant health implications; identifying associated risk and protective factors is critical for context-specific evidence-based interventions. This study examined the influence of religiosity on sexual debut among in-school adolescents in Lagos State, Nigeria.
Methods: Data was obtained from 1350 randomly selected in-school adolescents using a self-administered questionnaire. Internal and external religiosity, defined based on the extant literature, were the independent variables. The dependent variable was “ever had sex.” The association between religiosity and the age of sexual debut was assessed using Cox regression and controlling for relevant covariates. The hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated.
Results: Of the participants, 19.8% of the females and 26.6% of the males have had sex (p<0.004). Internal religiosity was protective against sexual debut among females (HR=0.63, 95% CI=0.44–0.91), whereas external religiosity was protective among the males (HR=0.70, 95% CI=0.51–0.71). Age was positively associated with sexual debut among both male (HR=1.11, 95% CI=1.001–1.24) and female adolescents (HR=1.26, 95% CI=1.11–1.42). Early pubertal development (HR=1.11; 95% CI=1.001–1.24) was also a risk factor for male adolescent sexual initiation. In addition, knowledge of HIV/AIDS risk (HR=0.47; 95% CI=0.30–0.72) was a protective factor against sexual debut among adolescent females, whereas the positive perspective of friends’ involvement in sex (HR=1.014; 95% CI=1.21–2.58) was a risk factor.
Conclusion: The protective effect of internal and external religiosity with regards to sexual debut varied by gender among Nigerian in-school adolescents; the gender differences as well as other significant factors should be taken into account in evidence-based programming to address adolescent sexual health challenges in Nigeria.
The research was partially funded by the Population and Reproductive Health Programme (PRHP) of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, a partnership project of the Obafemi Awolowo University and the Bill and Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Conflict of interest statement
Competing Interests: None.
Authors’ Contributions: OYA and AOF co-designed the study. OYA supervised the data collection and participated in the analysis and the write-up. AOF undertook further analysis and led the technical writing of the paper.
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Artikel in diesem Heft
- Masthead
- Masthead
- Editorial
- To vaccinate or not to vaccinate
- Review
- Sexual and reproductive health of Portuguese adolescents
- Original articles
- Tobacco consumption among 12- to 15-year-old schoolchildren in Delhi
- Perceptions of communication, family adaptability and cohesion: a comparison of adolescents newly diagnosed with cancer and their parents
- The prevalence of bullying and cyberbullying in high school: a 2011 survey
- Short- and medium-term impact of a residential weight-loss camp for overweight adolescents
- Personal and family attributes of pregnant teenagers: findings from a community-based study in Sri Lanka
- Adolescents with anorectal malformation: physical outcome, sexual health and quality of life
- What sources do adolescents turn to for information about their health concerns?
- Experiences of returning to elite alpine skiing after ACL injury and ACL reconstruction
- Hyperandrogenemia in male autistic children and adolescents: relation to disease severity
- The career aspirations of adolescents with eating disorders: an exploratory study and suggested links to adolescent self-concept development
- Differential effects of religiosity on sexual initiation among Nigerian in-school adolescents
- Prevalence of menstrual disorders among adolescent girls in Osogbo, South Western Nigeria
- The concepts of work, study, and leisure of parents and children
- How do Iranian female adolescents express their health education needs? A needs assessment with qualitative thematic analysis
- Attitudes and knowledge levels of nurses and residents caring for adolescents with an eating disorder
- Predictors of suicide ideation and risk for HIV among juvenile offenders in Georgia
- Short Communication
- Association between food intake frequency and obesity among adolescent girls in Saudi Arabia
- Case reports
- Unusual cause of urethral bleeding in an adolescent: a case in dilemma
- Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome: a specific cause of cyclical vomiting
