TY - JOUR
T1 - The relationship between sexual behavior and nonsexual risk behaviors among unmarried youth in Three Asian Cities
AU - Tu, Xiaowen
AU - Lou, Chaohua
AU - Gao, Ersheng
AU - Li, Nan
AU - Zabin, Laurie S.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors thank Mark R. Emerson, David Bishai, and Robert Wm. Blum for their comments and edits on an earlier draft of the manuscript. They also thank colleagues at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the Population and Health Research Center in Taiwan's Bureau of Health Promotion, the Shanghai Institute of Planned Parenthood Research, and the Hanoi Institute of Family and Gender Studies for their contributions to the overall study. The study was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Institute of Population and Reproductive Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, with additional support for Taiwan's portion of the study from its own Ministry of Health.
PY - 2012/3
Y1 - 2012/3
N2 - Background: Health risk behaviors in adolescents and youth, such as smoking, alcohol, drug use, violence, suicide, and unprotected sexual behavior, are issues of major public health concern. Addressing the relationship between sexual behavior and nonsexual risk behaviors will make a significant contribution to the design of effective intervention programs for this population of adolescents and unmarried youth. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in three Asian cities with a common heritage of Confucian values: Hanoi, Shanghai, and Taipei. Data were collected in 2006 from 17,016 youth aged 1524 years residing in both urban and rural districts of the three settings. The relationships between sexual behavior and seven nonsexual risk behaviors among unmarried adolescents were examined using χ 2 tests, logistic regression models, Cox regression models, and cluster analysis. Results: Sexual behavior was associated with seven nonsexual risk behaviors, especially with smoking, drinking, drug use, and running away from home. In terms of the age at initiation of risk behaviors, smoking and drinking were usually initiated before sexual intercourse. Sexual behavior and nonsexual risk behaviors co-occurred in the high-risk group in all three cities. Youth having the highest risk of sexual behavior were more likely to have the highest risk of nearly all nonsexual risk behaviors, with the exception of fighting in Hanoi and gambling in Shanghai and Taipei. Conclusions: Sexual behavior among unmarried youth is correlated with nonsexual risk behaviors but with different patterns across the three settings. Interventions aimed at reducing unprotected sex generally focus only on the sexual behavior; however, considering the correlations found here between sexual and nonsexual risk behaviors, they should target multiple risk behaviors.
AB - Background: Health risk behaviors in adolescents and youth, such as smoking, alcohol, drug use, violence, suicide, and unprotected sexual behavior, are issues of major public health concern. Addressing the relationship between sexual behavior and nonsexual risk behaviors will make a significant contribution to the design of effective intervention programs for this population of adolescents and unmarried youth. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in three Asian cities with a common heritage of Confucian values: Hanoi, Shanghai, and Taipei. Data were collected in 2006 from 17,016 youth aged 1524 years residing in both urban and rural districts of the three settings. The relationships between sexual behavior and seven nonsexual risk behaviors among unmarried adolescents were examined using χ 2 tests, logistic regression models, Cox regression models, and cluster analysis. Results: Sexual behavior was associated with seven nonsexual risk behaviors, especially with smoking, drinking, drug use, and running away from home. In terms of the age at initiation of risk behaviors, smoking and drinking were usually initiated before sexual intercourse. Sexual behavior and nonsexual risk behaviors co-occurred in the high-risk group in all three cities. Youth having the highest risk of sexual behavior were more likely to have the highest risk of nearly all nonsexual risk behaviors, with the exception of fighting in Hanoi and gambling in Shanghai and Taipei. Conclusions: Sexual behavior among unmarried youth is correlated with nonsexual risk behaviors but with different patterns across the three settings. Interventions aimed at reducing unprotected sex generally focus only on the sexual behavior; however, considering the correlations found here between sexual and nonsexual risk behaviors, they should target multiple risk behaviors.
KW - Nonsexual risk behaviors
KW - Sexual behavior
KW - Unmarried youth
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2011.12.010
DO - 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2011.12.010
M3 - Article
C2 - 22340860
AN - SCOPUS:84863393616
SN - 1054-139X
VL - 50
SP - S75-S82
JO - Journal of Adolescent Health
JF - Journal of Adolescent Health
IS - 3 SUPPL.
ER -