Abstract
Objectives
The study aimed to assess the prevalence and correlates of sexual risk behaviours among adolescents in four Southeast Asian countries.
Methods
In the cross-sectional “Global School-Based Student Health Survey (GSHS)”, 24,423 adolescents (mean age 14.1 years, SD=1.7) from Indonesia, Laos, Thailand and Timor-Leste responded to a questionnaire in 2015.
Results
Overall, 8.5% of the students (11.0% males and 6.3% females) ever had sex, ranging from 5.3% in Indonesia to 26.4% in Timor-Leste. Among the sexually active, 49.3% (55.9% males and 36.8% females) had their first sexual intercourse before the age 14 years, ranging from 16.1% in Laos to 73.9% in Indonesia, 59.7% (62.6% males and 53.5% females) had multiple sexual partners, ranging from 55.5% in Timor-Leste to 63.4% in Indonesia, 46.9% (46.8% males and 46.5% females) did not use a condom at last sex, ranging from 37.0% in Thailand to 65.3% in Indonesia, 49.8% (53.7% males and 43.7% females) had not used or did not know of the use of birth control at last sex, ranging from 40.6% in Thailand to 61.5% in Timor-Leste, and 54.2% (54.9% males and 47.0% females) engaged in multiple sexual risk behaviour, ranging from 45.9% in Laos to 78.0% in Indonesia. In adjusted logistic regression analysis, male sex, older age, food insecurity, tobacco use, alcohol use, ever cannabis and/or amphetamine use, psychological distress, and school truancy were associated with two or more and/or multiple sexual risk behaviours.
Conclusions
A high proportion of students engaged in various sexual risk behaviours calling for a scale up comprehensive sexuality education and integration of substance use and mental health into such intervention programmes in this adolescent school population.
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Research funding: This research did not receive any specific funding.
References
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© 2020 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Reviews
- Effective strategies to improve health worker performance in delivering adolescent-friendly sexual and reproductive health services
- Sleep disturbance and depression in adolescence: an integrative review of literature
- Multiple behavioural risk factors of non-communicable diseases among adolescents in four Caribbean countries: prevalence and correlates
- The post 16 gap: how do young people conceptualise PE? An exploration of the barriers to participation in physical education, physical activity and sport in senior school pupils
- The effect of cognitive behavior therapy on body image and self-esteem in female adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis
- Polycystic ovary syndrome and reproductive health of women: a curious association
- Correlation between obesity, gestational diabetes mellitus, and pregnancy outcomes: an overview
- Mindfulness and eudaimonic well-being: the mediating roles of rumination and emotion dysregulation
- Acute neurological conditions during pregnancy and their management: a review
- Depression and anxiety in women with polycystic ovarian syndrome: a literature survey
- Significance of sugar intake in young adults: a review
- Original Articles
- Prevalence and factors associated with smoking among Tunisian secondary school-adolescents
- Physical fitness and its association with overweight among early adolescents in Puducherry, Southern India
- Knowledge and awareness of individual sickle cell genotype among adolescents in a unity school in Southeast, Nigeria: a cross-sectional study
- Popular water pipe smoking, medical sciences students' awareness, perceptions, and motivations
- Investigation E-health literacy and correlates factors among Alborz medical sciences students: a cross sectional study
- Risk of eating disorders in university students: an international study in Hungary, Poland and Ukraine
- Prevalence and associated factors of oral and hand hygiene behaviour among adolescents in six Southeast Asian countries
- Assessment of academic performance of licensed athletes
- Gender-based differences in risk-taking behaviors among high school students in Southeast Iran
- Experience of sexual and gender minority youth when accessing health care in Turkey
- Use of modern contraceptives among advanced-level secondary school girls in the Rukwa Region, Tanzania, 2018
- The effect of poetry reading on self-concept of primary adolescents
- The association of acne and menstrual symptoms among young women (18–25 years) in Egypt: a population-based cross-sectional study
- Sexual risk behaviors and influencing factors among Muslim adolescents on southern border of Thailand
- Not just studies, but fitness can also get you the intelligence and the grades!!
- Effectiveness of a school-based intervention in Guatemala to increase knowledge of sexual and reproductive health
- Stressful life events and depressive symptoms among adolescents in Malaysia: the mediating role of maladaptive cognitive schema
- Sexual risk behaviour and its correlates among adolescents in Indonesia, Laos, Thailand and Timor-Leste: results from national school surveys in 2015
- Utilization rate and factors influencing the use of HIV counseling and testing services among young females: a community-based study from Nigeria
- Pattern and quitting of tobacco smoking among Egyptian university students
- Association between parents and peer attachment with health locus of control: a cross-sectional study among Iranian adolescents
- Body dissatisfaction and its association with domains of physical activity and of sedentary behavior in a sample of 15,632 adolescents
- Effect of Bhramari pranayama practice on simple reaction time in healthy adolescents – a randomized control trial
- Short Communications
- Survey of school nurses’ experiences of providing counselling on sexual orientation to high school students in Japan
- Prevalence and correlates of fruit and vegetable consumption among adolescents in Laos
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Reviews
- Effective strategies to improve health worker performance in delivering adolescent-friendly sexual and reproductive health services
- Sleep disturbance and depression in adolescence: an integrative review of literature
- Multiple behavioural risk factors of non-communicable diseases among adolescents in four Caribbean countries: prevalence and correlates
- The post 16 gap: how do young people conceptualise PE? An exploration of the barriers to participation in physical education, physical activity and sport in senior school pupils
- The effect of cognitive behavior therapy on body image and self-esteem in female adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis
- Polycystic ovary syndrome and reproductive health of women: a curious association
- Correlation between obesity, gestational diabetes mellitus, and pregnancy outcomes: an overview
- Mindfulness and eudaimonic well-being: the mediating roles of rumination and emotion dysregulation
- Acute neurological conditions during pregnancy and their management: a review
- Depression and anxiety in women with polycystic ovarian syndrome: a literature survey
- Significance of sugar intake in young adults: a review
- Original Articles
- Prevalence and factors associated with smoking among Tunisian secondary school-adolescents
- Physical fitness and its association with overweight among early adolescents in Puducherry, Southern India
- Knowledge and awareness of individual sickle cell genotype among adolescents in a unity school in Southeast, Nigeria: a cross-sectional study
- Popular water pipe smoking, medical sciences students' awareness, perceptions, and motivations
- Investigation E-health literacy and correlates factors among Alborz medical sciences students: a cross sectional study
- Risk of eating disorders in university students: an international study in Hungary, Poland and Ukraine
- Prevalence and associated factors of oral and hand hygiene behaviour among adolescents in six Southeast Asian countries
- Assessment of academic performance of licensed athletes
- Gender-based differences in risk-taking behaviors among high school students in Southeast Iran
- Experience of sexual and gender minority youth when accessing health care in Turkey
- Use of modern contraceptives among advanced-level secondary school girls in the Rukwa Region, Tanzania, 2018
- The effect of poetry reading on self-concept of primary adolescents
- The association of acne and menstrual symptoms among young women (18–25 years) in Egypt: a population-based cross-sectional study
- Sexual risk behaviors and influencing factors among Muslim adolescents on southern border of Thailand
- Not just studies, but fitness can also get you the intelligence and the grades!!
- Effectiveness of a school-based intervention in Guatemala to increase knowledge of sexual and reproductive health
- Stressful life events and depressive symptoms among adolescents in Malaysia: the mediating role of maladaptive cognitive schema
- Sexual risk behaviour and its correlates among adolescents in Indonesia, Laos, Thailand and Timor-Leste: results from national school surveys in 2015
- Utilization rate and factors influencing the use of HIV counseling and testing services among young females: a community-based study from Nigeria
- Pattern and quitting of tobacco smoking among Egyptian university students
- Association between parents and peer attachment with health locus of control: a cross-sectional study among Iranian adolescents
- Body dissatisfaction and its association with domains of physical activity and of sedentary behavior in a sample of 15,632 adolescents
- Effect of Bhramari pranayama practice on simple reaction time in healthy adolescents – a randomized control trial
- Short Communications
- Survey of school nurses’ experiences of providing counselling on sexual orientation to high school students in Japan
- Prevalence and correlates of fruit and vegetable consumption among adolescents in Laos