Peer-reviewed article
Sexual health behavior trends in a nationally representative sample of Canadian migrant adolescents from 2014 to 2022.
Ji D, Rana M, Coronel-Villalobos M, Hammami N, Saewyc E ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study tracked sexual health behaviors among Canadian migrant adolescents from 2014 to 2022 using national school survey data. Migrant girls reported lower sexual experience than Canada-born girls consistently over the period, while migrant boys showed gaps in condom and contraceptive pill use compared to non-migrants. Overall, contraceptive and safer sex behaviors declined across all groups during this time, with migrant youth showing steeper declines in some areas, particularly dual method contraceptive use.
Key points
- Migrant girls were consistently less likely to report sexual experience across all three survey waves (2014, 2018, 2022)
- Sexual health behaviors declined across all groups from 2014 to 2022, with especially sharp declines among migrant youth
- Migrant boys were more likely than non-migrant boys to use neither contraceptive method in 2018 and 2022, and this disparity widened over time
- Contraceptive pill use gaps between migrant and non-migrant youth narrowed for both girls and boys by 2022
- Dual method contraceptive use (condom plus pill) was significantly lower among migrant youth in 2022
Limitations
The study describes trends and disparities but does not explain the causes of these differences or why behaviors declined over time. It does not evaluate any specific intervention or program.
Abstract
Background Migrant youth in Canada are disproportionately vulnerable to the consequences of inadequate contraception use compared to their Canada-born peers, yet the sexual health behaviours of this population across time are poorly understood. This study mapped national Canadian trends in migrant adolescent sexual health behaviors disaggregated by migrant status and sex over eight years. Methods Canadian Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study data were analyzed in 2014, 2018, and 2022 for sexual experience, condom, contraceptive pill, dual and neither method use at last intercourse. Age-adjusted logistic regressions examined prevalence trends of sexual health behaviors across years stratified by migrant status separately for boys and girls. Using non-migrants as referent group and 2014 as referent year, we then examined contrasts for disparities by year to test whether differences in sexual health behavior prevalence between migrant and non-migrant youth widened, narrowed, or remained stable for each sex. Results Migrant girls were less likely to report sexual experience across all waves, a gap that remained consistent in 2018 and 2022. Compared to 2014, sexual health behaviors declined across all groups, especially migrants. Migrant boys were less likely to report sexual experience in 2018 and were less likely than Canada-born youth to use condoms in 2022. Contraceptive pill use was lower among migrant girls in 2022, this gap narrowed. Migrant boys were less likely to use contraceptive pills in 2018, this gap narrowed. Use of the dual method of contraception was lower in 2022 among migrant girls and boys. Migrant boys were more likely than non-migrants to use neither method in 2018 and 2022, this gap widened. Conclusions Accessible contraception, culturally safe and relevant health information/services are recommended to counter declining contraception and safer sex behaviors among migrant youth.