Sexual attitudes, behaviours and acculturation among young migrants in Shanghai

May Sudhinaraset; Kristin Mmari; Vivan Go; Robert Wm Blum

doi:10.1080/13691058.2012.715673

Sexual attitudes, behaviours and acculturation among young migrants in Shanghai

May Sudhinaraset, Kristin Mmari, Vivan Go, Robert Wm Blum

Bloomberg School of Public Health

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

13 Scopus citations

Abstract

China's rates of internal migration increased to an all-time high of over 200 million individuals at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Yet, there is a dearth of information on the lives of young migrant populations. The aim of this study was to explore how migration influences the sexual attitudes and behaviours of 18-24-year-old migrant men and women in Shanghai, China. A total of 64 migrants participated in 10 focus-group discussions and 20 in-depth interviews. Guided by acculturation theory, coded data were organised into analytic matrices to compare themes across participants. Factors associated with increased sexual-risk behaviours include acculturative stress, discrimination leading to social isolation, conflicts between traditional and modern city values and increased sexual opportunities. Premarital sex, cohabitation, unprotected sex and visiting sex workers are common among this population. Reasons for not using condoms included being unprepared, lack of knowledge and barriers in accessing reproductive services due to not having urban documentation. Local family planning programmes should help migrants negotiate traditional and modern values and partner with work-sites to provide comprehensive sexual education and services and train health professionals in the specific healthcare needs of young migrant populations.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	1081-1094
Number of pages	14
Journal	Culture, Health and Sexuality
Volume	14
Issue number	9
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2012.715673
State	Published - Oct 2012

Keywords

China
acculturation
migration
sexual behaviour
young people

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Health(social science)
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

Access to Document

10.1080/13691058.2012.715673

Cite this

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title = "Sexual attitudes, behaviours and acculturation among young migrants in Shanghai",

abstract = "China's rates of internal migration increased to an all-time high of over 200 million individuals at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Yet, there is a dearth of information on the lives of young migrant populations. The aim of this study was to explore how migration influences the sexual attitudes and behaviours of 18-24-year-old migrant men and women in Shanghai, China. A total of 64 migrants participated in 10 focus-group discussions and 20 in-depth interviews. Guided by acculturation theory, coded data were organised into analytic matrices to compare themes across participants. Factors associated with increased sexual-risk behaviours include acculturative stress, discrimination leading to social isolation, conflicts between traditional and modern city values and increased sexual opportunities. Premarital sex, cohabitation, unprotected sex and visiting sex workers are common among this population. Reasons for not using condoms included being unprepared, lack of knowledge and barriers in accessing reproductive services due to not having urban documentation. Local family planning programmes should help migrants negotiate traditional and modern values and partner with work-sites to provide comprehensive sexual education and services and train health professionals in the specific healthcare needs of young migrant populations.",

keywords = "China, acculturation, migration, sexual behaviour, young people",

author = "May Sudhinaraset and Kristin Mmari and Vivan Go and Blum, {Robert Wm}",

note = "Funding Information: We would like to acknowledge the logistic support and contribution of researchers at the Shanghai Institute of Planned Parenthood Research. In particular, we would like to thank Cheng Yan, Lou Chaohua, Gao Ersheng, Yu Chunyan, Wang Ziliang, Lian Qiguo and Feng Yongliang. We would like to acknowledge Court Robinson, Nan Astone and Laurie Zabin for helpful suggestions and comments. We are grateful to Qingfeng Li for research support and the translation of key documents. This project was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Institute of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the Global Health Experience Award of the Johns Hopkins University and the Cheryl Alexander Award of the Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.",

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AU - Sudhinaraset, May

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N1 - Funding Information: We would like to acknowledge the logistic support and contribution of researchers at the Shanghai Institute of Planned Parenthood Research. In particular, we would like to thank Cheng Yan, Lou Chaohua, Gao Ersheng, Yu Chunyan, Wang Ziliang, Lian Qiguo and Feng Yongliang. We would like to acknowledge Court Robinson, Nan Astone and Laurie Zabin for helpful suggestions and comments. We are grateful to Qingfeng Li for research support and the translation of key documents. This project was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Institute of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the Global Health Experience Award of the Johns Hopkins University and the Cheryl Alexander Award of the Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

PY - 2012/10

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N2 - China's rates of internal migration increased to an all-time high of over 200 million individuals at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Yet, there is a dearth of information on the lives of young migrant populations. The aim of this study was to explore how migration influences the sexual attitudes and behaviours of 18-24-year-old migrant men and women in Shanghai, China. A total of 64 migrants participated in 10 focus-group discussions and 20 in-depth interviews. Guided by acculturation theory, coded data were organised into analytic matrices to compare themes across participants. Factors associated with increased sexual-risk behaviours include acculturative stress, discrimination leading to social isolation, conflicts between traditional and modern city values and increased sexual opportunities. Premarital sex, cohabitation, unprotected sex and visiting sex workers are common among this population. Reasons for not using condoms included being unprepared, lack of knowledge and barriers in accessing reproductive services due to not having urban documentation. Local family planning programmes should help migrants negotiate traditional and modern values and partner with work-sites to provide comprehensive sexual education and services and train health professionals in the specific healthcare needs of young migrant populations.

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Sexual attitudes, behaviours and acculturation among young migrants in Shanghai

Abstract

Keywords

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