Abstract
ObjectivesTo assess the prospective associations of physical activity behaviors and screen time with early sexual intercourse initiation (i.e., before 15 years) in a large sample of adolescents.MethodsWe used two waves of data from the Rotterdam Youth Monitor, a longitudinal study conducted in the Netherlands. The analysis sample consisted of 2,141 adolescents aged 12 to 14 years (mean age at baseline = 12.2 years, SD = 0.43). Physical activity (e.g., sports outside school), screen time (e.g., computer use), and early sexual intercourse initiation were assessed by means of self-report questionnaires. Logistic regression models were tested to assess the associations of physical activity behaviors and screen time (separately and simultaneously) with early sexual intercourse initiation, controlling for confounders (i.e., socio-demographics and substance use). Interaction effects with gender were tested to assess whether these associations differed significantly between boys and girls.ResultsThe only physical activity behavior that was a significant predictor of early sexual intercourse initiation was sports club membership. Adolescent boys and girls who were members of a sports club) were more likely to have had early sex (OR = 2.17; 95% CI = 1.33, 3.56. Significant gender interaction effects indicated that boys who watched TV ≥2 hours/day (OR = 2.00; 95% CI = 1.08, 3.68) and girls who used the computer ≥2 hours/day (OR = 3.92; 95% CI = 1.76, 8.69) were also significantly more likely to have engaged in early sex.ConclusionThese findings have implications for professionals in general pediatric healthcare, sexual health educators, policy makers, and parents, who should be aware of these possible prospective links between sports club membership, TV watching (for boys), and computer use (for girls), and early sexual intercourse initiation. However, continued research on determinants of adolescents’ early sexual initiation is needed to further contribute to the strategies for improving adolescents’ healthy sexual development and behaviors.
Highlights
Sexual intercourse initiation has been associated with an increased risk of having multiple lifetime sexual partners, unprotected sex, acquiring sexually transmitted infections (STIs), unwanted pregnancy [1,2,3,4,5,6], and undesirable sexual outcomes, such as problems with orgasm and sexual arousal [4]
With regard to the potential confounders, Model 3 (Table 2) revealed that boys with low educational level were significantly more likely to have engaged in early sexual intercourse between T1 and T2 than boys with high educational level (OR = 2.29; 95% CI = 1.38, 3.81)
Model 3 showed that boys and girls who were not living with both biological parents were significantly more likely to have engaged in early sexual intercourse between T1 and T2 than boys and girls who were living with both biological parents (ORboys = 2.29; 95% CI = 1.38, 3.81), (ORgirls = 2.29; 95% CI = 1.38, 3.81)
Summary
Sexual intercourse initiation has been associated with an increased risk of having multiple lifetime sexual partners, unprotected sex, acquiring sexually transmitted infections (STIs), unwanted pregnancy [1,2,3,4,5,6], and undesirable sexual outcomes, such as problems with orgasm and sexual arousal [4]. Recent studies have found that early sexual intercourse is associated with depression and low self-esteem [7,8,9,10]. In light of the risks associated with early sexual intercourse initiation, the understanding of its determinants may contribute to the development and improvement of prevention and intervention strategies and policies aiming to improve adolescents’ sexual health [11]. Established risk factors for early sexual intercourse include low parental educational level, low household income, not living with both biological parents, and poor quality of the parent—adolescent relationship [12,13,14,15,16,17]. According to the classic ecological model, many other environmental factors (e.g., leisure time activities) may affect adolescents’ sexual development (e.g., early sexual intercourse initiation) [18]. Some studies have analyzed the association between adolescents’ physical activity behaviors (e.g., sports participation outside school) and their timing of sexual intercourse [11, 19,20,21,22,23,24] and one study has analyzed the association between adolescents’ sedentary behavior (e.g., screen time) and their timing of sexual intercourse [25], no studies have examined both behaviors in relation to adolescents’ sexual intercourse initiation
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