Forced sex and its predictors among students attending university: a cross-sectional study

Shayesteh Jahanfar,Mojgan Mirghafourvand,Parivash Ahmadpour

doi:10.1186/s13690-022-00823-4

Shayesteh Jahanfar, Mojgan Mirghafourvand + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s13690-022-00823-4

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Abstract

BackgroundForced sex is associated with negative psychological health outcomes. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of forced sex and its predictors.MethodsThis cross-sectional study was performed on 800 students of a university in USA using a random sampling method. Reproductive health electronic questionnaire was used for data collection. Due to the sensitive nature of the questionnaires and for anonymity, Qualtrics software was used. To estimate the extent of the effect of each of the independent variables (knowledge, attitude, as well as socio-demographic characteristics) on the dependent variable (forced sex), multivariate logistic regression was used.ResultsAbout one-fifth of students (16.9%) had experienced forced sex. The variables of gender, knowledge about sexually transmitted diseases (STD), and sexual attitude were among the predictors of forced sex. This kind of sexual relationship was more likely to occur in girls than in boys (OR = 2.94, 95%CI: 1.20 to 1.71). Further, the chance of forced sex significantly increased with growing knowledge of STD (OR = 1.41, 95%CI: 1.61 to 1.71), and sexual attitude (OR = 1.23, 95%CI: 1.04 to 1.21).ConclusionConsidering the impact of gender, knowledge about STD, and sexual attitude on forced sex, educational interventions among the youth especially girls are required to provide complete and proper information about sexual and reproductive health and rights and correct the sexual attitudes of the youth.

Highlights

Forced sex is associated with negative psychological health outcomes
20% missing data were found including those who did not fill up the questionnaire at all and those who partly filled up the questionnaire
On the other hand, based on the multivariate logistic regression model, the variables of gender, knowledge of sexually transmitted diseases (STD), and sexual attitude were among the predictors of forced sex, where the chance of forced sex was higher in girls than in boys (OR = 2.94, 95% confidence intervals (CI): 1.20 to 7.17, P = 0.01)

Summary

Introduction

Forced sex is associated with negative psychological health outcomes. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of forced sex and its predictors. Biological, psychological, and social changes of adolescence and youth period are the determining factors of health or disease in subsequent years of life [1] For many teenagers, these changes occur without any adverse outcomes. This gap of knowledge can be due to ambiguity in determining the nature of the experience due to the over-extensive and nonspecific nature of the questions posed in this regard [8] This type of information is collected systematically among the samples of the national representatives of the adolescents (for example, a question has been considered about forced sex from 1999 in the national survey of the adolescent’s risky behaviors), due to shame, denial, self-blame or fear of violation, cases of violence may not be reported [9]. Forced sexual initiation (FSI) has been reported to be 5–46% among women in lowand middle-income countries of Africa [12]

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