Peer-reviewed article
What predicts the early sexual debut among unmarried adolescents (10-19 years)? Evidence from UDAYA survey, 2015-16.
T Muhammad, Shobhit Srivastava, Pradeep Kumar, Sangram Kishor Patel ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study analysed data from 15,388 unmarried adolescents aged 10-19 years in India to identify factors associated with early sexual debut. Boys were more likely than girls to report early sexual debut (9% vs 4%). Key risk factors included being a school dropout, exposure to media and pornography, and experiencing depressive symptoms. The findings suggest that prevention efforts should involve parents and family life education to promote safer sexual behaviour among adolescents.
Key points
- Adolescent boys (9%) were more than twice as likely as girls (4%) to report early sexual debut
- School dropout status was strongly associated with early sexual debut in both boys (17.2%) and girls (6%)
- Boys with frequent media exposure were 2.7 times more likely to report early sexual debut than those with no exposure
- Pornography exposure significantly increased odds of early sexual debut for both boys (OR: 3.01) and girls (OR: 1.87)
- Moderately-severe or severe depressive symptoms were associated with higher likelihood of early sexual debut in both boys (OR: 1.89) and girls (OR: 1.77)
Limitations
This is an observational study identifying associations rather than proving causation; the cross-sectional nature means we cannot determine whether media exposure or depressive symptoms precede or follow early sexual debut. The findings may not generalise beyond the two Indian states studied.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: The societal norm in India is such that adolescents are expected to respect and follow traditional values and view early sexual debut as undesirable and deviant from the social mores. However, a dramatic shift in attitudes towards sex before marriage has been observed in India. We in this study, aim to study the factors associated with early sexual debut among unmarried adolescents. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study used data from the Understanding the lives of adolescents and young adults (UDAYA) survey conducted in 2016 with 15,388 adolescents aged 10-19 years from two Indian states. Bivariate and logistic regression analyses were performed to determine the associated factors. RESULTS: Adolescent boys (9%) were more prone to early sexual debut compared to girls (4%). Both boys (17.2%) and girls (6%) who were school dropouts had significantly higher chances of early sexual debut. Boys who had rare [OR: 2.28; CI: 1.12-4.64] or frequent media exposure [OR: 2.70; CI: 1.36-5.32] were significantly more likely to report early sexual debut than those who had no media exposure. Further, the likelihood of early sexual debut was significantly higher among boys [OR: 3.01; CI: 2.34-3.87] and girls [OR: 1.87; CI: 1.12-3.12] who had exposure to pornography compared to their counterparts. The odds of early sexual debut were higher among boys [OR: 1.89; CI: 1.19-3.01] and girls [OR: 1.77; CI: 1.30-2.41] who had moderately-severe/severe depressive symptoms compared to their counterparts. CONCLUSIONS: The results highlight that Indian unmarried adolescents demand the appropriate knowledge to promote safer sexual behavior and lead a responsible and healthy lifestyle. The preventive efforts must be multifaceted with involvement at the individual and parental levels. Especially, interventions appear advantageous to be parents-focused emphasizing family life education that can prevent risky sexual behaviors among adolescent boys and girls. And the public programs should focus on sexual health promotion considering the physical and psychosocial changes during early ages of sex life.