Abstract
Objective: The purpose of the study was to assess the risk behavior and its effect on involvement in sex among school-going adolescents as a part of assessing implementation of Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health Scheme (ARSH) in a state of India. Methods: The sample covered 3069 randomly selected adolescents (students) from 9 th to 12 th standard in various government, private and missionary-run schools from two districts, namely, Aizawl and Champhai in the state of Mizoram. Results: It was found that more than one-third of adolescents (37%) accepted taking alcohol and 72% of adolescents accepted seeing pornographic movies. Nearly 23% respondents were aware about premarital pregnancy among friends and 7.5% were aware about complication due to unsafe abortion among them. About 10% accepted involvement in premarital sex and majority of them (70%) had premarital sex between age group 15 and 19 years and 54% never used condom. Influence of peer group who were taking alcohol, tobacco and drug and exposure to erotic materials was found to be the major risk factors for indulgence in unsafe sex practices among adolescents. Conclusion: Better awareness and counseling against tobacco, alcohol and drug abuse, and pornographic literature among adolescents is needed through school health education.
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