Religious Attendance in a Secular Country Protects Adolescents from Health-Risk Behavior Only in Combination with Participation in Church Activities

Religiosity and spirituality have been considered to be protective factors of adolescent health-risk behavior (HRB). The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between adolescents’ HRB and their religiosity, taking into account their parents’ faith and their own participation in church activities. A nationally representative sample (n = 13377, 13.5 ± 1.7 years, 49.1% boys) of Czech adolescents participated in the 2018 Health Behavior in School-aged Children cross-sectional study. We measured religious attendance (RA), faith importance (FI) (both of respondents and their parents), participation in church activities and adolescent HRB (tobacco, alcohol, and cannabis use and early sexual intercourse). We found that neither RA nor FI of participants or their parents had a significant effect on adolescents’ HRB. Compared to attending respondents who participate in church activities (AP), non-attending respondents who participate in church activities were more likely to report smoking and early sexual intercourse, with odds ratios (ORs) ranging from 3.14 (1.54–6.39) to 3.82 (1.99–7.35). Compared to AP, non-attending respondents who did not participate in church activities were more likely to report early sexual intercourse, with OR = 1.90 (1.14–3.17). Thus, our findings show that RA does not protect adolescents from HRB; they suggest that RA protects adolescents from HRB only in combination with participation in church activities.

SEXTING AND RISKY SEXUAL BEHAVIOUR AMONG STUDENTS IN MACHAKOS UNIVERSITY, MACHAKOS COUNTY.KENYA

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate sexting practice among students and identify the risky sexual behaviors associated with sexting among students in Machakos University, Machakos County, Kenya. Methodology: The study adopted a descriptive cross-sectional study design. The target sample was 347 students aged 18-24 years in Machakos university. Convenience sampling was used for quantitative data and purposive sampling for qualitative data as well as the study area. Interviewer-administered questionnaires were utilized and in-depth interview used for the qualitative data collection. The IBM SPSS version 26.0 was used for data analysis. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the qualitative data and triangulated with quantitative findings. Results was presented in tables, graphs and pie charts. Chi square test was done to identify variables associated with sexting and odds ratio to measure the association between sexting and risky sexual behavior. Findings: Sexting (sending of sexually suggestive image/photo) was found to be prevalent among the student at 57% and 48% being two-way sexters. Male respondents engaged more into sexting as compared to female respondents at 67%and 33% respectively.23.0% sexted to keep or get a boy/girlfriend and 14% due to pleasure from their peers. Gender, Age, Level of study and relationship status were all significantly associated with sexting (P=0.000, P=0.027, P=0.002 and P=0.022 respectively). Risky sexual behaviors among students included early sexual intercourse 74%, but 54% had not used protection. Sexting and risky sexual behavior were found to be associated because most of the respondents who engaged in sexting were eight times more like to engage in early sexual intercourse, and the perception of sexters was that if one was sexting they were six times likely to have sex with the person they sexted, and so the null hypothesis that there is no relationship between sexting and risky sexual behavior was rejected and the alternative hypothesis adopted. Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: Adoption of Multi sectoral to develop policies, and design youth programs with a wide range of issues relating to sex and sexuality and how to safely navigate the internet and form healthy relationships both on and offline, which include issues such as sexting with young people from a young age.

Factors associated with early sexual intercourse among teenagers and young adults in rural south of Benin

Early initiation to sexual intercourse increases the risk of sexually transmitted infections including HIV/AIDS and early or unwanted pregnancies. This study aimed identifying the factors associated with the early initiation to sexual intercourse among teenagers and young adults aged 10-24, in the south of Benin. A cross-sectional study was conducted in the south of Benin where 360 respondents were selected by random cluster sampling. Multiple logistic regressions was used to find related factors to early sexual intercourse. The significance level for the tests was of 5%. The average reported age of initiation to sexual intercourse was 14.75±2.18. Among the male teenagers and young adults, 41.11% had an early sexual intercourse against 20.24% for the female gender (P<10-3). The lack of communication between parents-teenagers (P=0.003), level of education of the father (P=0.021), exposure to pornographic movies (P=0.025), an adverse opinion on premarital sexual abstinence (P=0.026) were significantly associated with early sexual intercourse. Communication about health promotion for behavioural change may contribute to delay the age of sexual initiation.