Predicting Factors of Pre-coital and Sexual Behaviors among Thai Muslim Adolescents: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Pre-coital and sexual behaviors are precarious and may lead adolescents to face higher rates of unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the factors predicting pre-coital and sexual behaviors amongMuslim adolescents in southernmost Thailand. Seven hundred adolescents were recruited from a vocational college and four schools. Sexual risk behaviors and its related factors questionnaires were employed for data collection. Descriptive statistics were used todescribe the demographic characteristics of the participants; binary and ordinal logistic regression was used to examine the factors explaining sexual risk behaviors. The results indicated that increased age was a predicting factor for higher pre-coital and sexual behaviors. For interpersonal factors, knowledge of sexual risk behaviors was a protective factor, while perceived parent and peer approval of sex and perceived peer norms predicted higher pre-coital and sexual behaviors. More parental monitoring was a protective factor for lower pre-coital behaviors. For environmental factors, cultural norms were a significant protective factor, while neighborhood disorganization predicted higher pre-coital behaviors. In conclusion, age, parental approval of sex, and perceived peer norms were predictors of sexual and pre-coital behaviors. These findings provide useful information for healthcare providers, especially nurses, to develop the intervention with the protective factors and predictors of sexual and pre-coital behaviors. We recommend action research that includes all community stakeholders to develop an intervention to prevent sexual risk behaviors among Muslim adolescents.