Early Sexual Intercourse Research Articles

Age at first sexual intercourse, age at menarche, and age at menopause: a mendelian randomization study on lung cancer risk.

There is increasing evidence that sex hormones are involved in the development of lung cancer, but the correlation between the reproductive behavior that changes sex hormone levels and lung cancer is not yet clear. Many previous studies have investigated the association between reproductive factors and lung cancer risk, but the results have been inconsistent. Therefore, we conducted a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to explore the potential relationship between age at first sexual intercourse (AFS), age at menarche, and age at menopause, and lung cancer. We performed a MR analysis of the data from the genome-wide association study (GWAS) of European ancestry to evaluate the independent effects of three reproductive behaviors on lung cancer overall (LUCA), lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC), and small cell lung cancer (SCLC). We mainly used the inverse-variance weighting method for the MR analysis. Sensitivity was determined by a MR-pleiotropy residual sum and outlier analysis, a weighted median analysis, a MR-Egger analysis, and a leave-one-out analysis. The MR analysis results revealed that older AFS had a causal relationship with LUCA [odds ratio (OR) =0.6283, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.4959-0.7961, P=0.0001), LUAD (OR =0.7042, 95% CI: 0.4967-0.9984, P=0.049), and LUSC (OR =0.6231, 95% CI: 0.4386-0.8853, P=0.0083). Our results revealed a causal relationship between older AFS and a lower risk of lung cancer. Our findings emphasize the importance of providing sex education, as early sexual intercourse may have undesirable effects. In addition, early psychological treatment is also essential.

Reproductive health education and early sexual behavior prevention assistance for Madrasah Aliyah students in Bandung

Health reproduction knowledge is a crucial factor in preventing acts of early sexual behavior. Early sexual behavior is reflected in many ways, from attraction to different sexes to building a relationship and making physical contact. Adequate knowledge of sexuality in teenagers especially in health reproduction would prevent teenagers from acting in early sexual behavior. This activity aims to increase knowledge about the health of reproductive organs and the prevention of early sexual intercourse among Madrasah Aliyah students. The method used is education regarding the health of reproductive organs, pre-marital sexual psychology, and social jurisprudence approaches. All material is presented interestingly and interactively. This activity found that 63 percent of the participants had previous knowledge of this topic. More than 50 percent of respondents were students, and students had quite good knowledge about reproductive health. Madrasah Aliyah students already have sufficient knowledge about reproductive health, but it has not yet been seen whether it is enough to prevent students from premature sexual behavior. However, we do not have any data regarding the act of early sexual behavior among respondents or how knowledge in health reproduction would relate to the act of early sexual behavior.

Using Total Cohort Fertility in Adolescence (TCFA) to analyse adolescent fertility trends and factors in Niger: Evidence from 1992 to 2012 demographic and health surveys.

Girls aged 10-19 currently represent 12% of Niger's population (2020). And this number continues to grow as the fertility rate is higher while mortality is declining faster. Using Niger's demographic and health surveys carried out between 1992 and 2012, the study investigated adolescent fertility, its trends and associated factors. It mobilised descriptive methods (Total cohort fertility in adolescence (TCFA) computation, distribution of the number of adolescent births, and computation of adolescent cohort childbearing mean age) and multivariate Logistic and Poisson models. The result shows the TCFA went from 1.29 in 1992 to 1.17 in 2012. Early sexual intercourse and marriage, infant mortality, the desire for a large family, and urbanisation are among the factors significantly associated with adolescent fertility in Niger. The study concludes that the high level of adolescent fertility in Niger does not seem to be changing.

Trends and the Gender Gap in the Reporting of Sexual Initiation Among 15-Year-Olds: A Comparison of 33 European Countries

ABSTRACT Early sexual intercourse initiation has been associated with immediate and long-term risks, which makes the study of trends in sexual initiation an important topic for policy makers. This study investigated trends over time in reported sexual initiation among 15-year-olds across 33 countries between 2010–2018. In addition, we examined if there were cross-country differences in the gender gap in reported sexual initiation in 2018, and whether these could be attributed to gender inequality and gender role attitudes. To answer these questions, we combined individual-level data from the international Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study collected in 2010 (N = 57,656), 2014 (N = 56,745) and 2018 (N = 55,127) with country-level data on gender inequality and gender role attitudes. We found a decrease over time in early sexual initiation in most countries, but also cross-country differences in these trends. More boys than girls reported sexual initiation in 2018. This gender gap also varied across countries and slightly decreased over time. In countries with less progressive gender role attitudes and more gender inequality, fewer girls reported early sexual initiation, resulting in a larger gender gap in these countries. To conclude, policy makers, healthcare providers and educators should focus on changing stereotypical gender norms.

Prevalence and factors associated with early resumption of sexual intercourse among postpartum women: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Postpartum sexual health is indicated by a resumption of sexual activity as well as arousal, desire, orgasm, and sexual satisfaction. The issue of resuming sexual intercourse after childbirth has received limited attention because healthcare professionals rarely provide adequate care to postnatal women. The present study aimed to ascertain the overall prevalence of early resumption of sexual intercourse among most women. Searches were conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, Science Direct, Google Scholar, African Journals Online, and the Cochrane Library. Data were extracted using Microsoft Excel, and STATA version 14 was used for analysis. Publication bias was checked by funnel plot, Egger, and Begg regression tests. A p-value of 0.05 was regarded to indicate potential publication bias. Using I2 statistics, the heterogeneity of the studies was evaluated. By country, a subgroup analysis was conducted. A sensitivity analysis was carried out to determine the effect of each study's findings on the overall estimate. The random effects model was used to assess the overall effect of the study and then measured using prevalence rates and odds ratio with 95% CI. Twenty-one studies with 4,482 postpartum women participants were included in the study. The pooled prevalence of early resumption sexual intercourse among post-partum women was 57.26% (95% CI 50.14, 64.39) with significant heterogeneity between studies (I2 = 99.2%; P-value ≤ 0.000) observed. Current contraceptive use (AOR = 1.48, 95%CI = 1.03, 6.21), primipara (AOR = 2.88, 95%CI = 1.41, 5.89), and no history of severe genital injury on the last delivery (AOR = 2.27, 95%CI = 1.05, 4.93) were significantly associated with early resumption of sexual intercourse. This study found that more than half of women resumed sexual intercourse early after giving birth. This suggests that a significant number of women may be at higher risk of unwanted pregnancies, short birth intervals, and postpartum sepsis. Thus, stakeholders should improve the integration of postpartum sexual education with maternal health services to reduce the resumption of postpartum sexual intercourse.

Health condition and socioeconomic status mediate the causal effect of reproductive traits on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: evidence from Mendelian randomization study.

Observational data posits a correlation between reproductive traits and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), but their causal inference is still unclear. This investigation seeks to elucidate the causal influence of reproductive traits on NAFLD and determine the intervening role of health condition and socioeconomic status in these connections. Utilizing a Mendelian Randomization (MR) approach, this research leveraged a comprehensive dataset from the Genome-wide Association Study (GWAS) database. The study incorporated body mass index, major depression, educational level, household income and Townsend deprivation index as intermediary variables. Initially, a bidirectional two-sample MR study was conducted to explore the genetic associations between reproductive traits and NAFLD. Then, two-step MR analyses were implemented to quantify the extent of mediation by these indicators. The weighted inverse variance method was the primary analytical approach, complemented by several sensitivity analyses to affirm the robustness of the MR assumptions. Finally, these findings were validated in the FinnGen research. The bidirectional MR analysis indicated that earlier reproductive traits (age at menarche, age at first sexual intercourse, and age at first birth) were associated with an elevated risk of NAFLD, absent any evidence of the reverse relationship. Body mass index accounted for 35.64% of the association between premature menarche and NAFLD. Additionally, body mass index, major depression, educational level and household income mediated 41.65%, 14.35%, 37.88%, and 18.59% of the connection between early sexual intercourse and NAFLD, respectively. Similarly, these same variables elucidated 36.36%, 15.58%, 41.56%, and 22.73% of the correlation between younger age at first birth and NAFLD. Our study elucidated the causal relationships between reproductive traits and NAFLD. Potential underlying mechanisms may involve factors such as body mass index, major depression, educational attainment and household income.

Variables Associated with Early Sexual Intercourse among Adolescents of Costa Rica

Variables Associated with Early Sexual Intercourse among Adolescents of Costa Rica

Associated Factors with Early Sexual Intercourse among In-School Adolescents in Brazzaville

Associated Factors with Early Sexual Intercourse among In-School Adolescents in Brazzaville

Menstrual Patterns and Age of Menarche in Young Women from the United States

Background Menarche is a salient event for adolescents that marks the beginning of reproductive life and the commencement of menstrual cycles. Despite this, much less is known about how the timing of menarche is related to menstrual patterns. Methods To that end, a cross-sectional sample of 523 young women in college from the United States provided data on menarcheal age, menses and cycle length, blood loss during menses, dysmenorrhea, and menstrual cycle regularity. Sociodemographic data such as age of first sexual intercourse, presence of biological father while growing up, self-reported body weight, and urban versus rural place of residence were also obtained. Results Mean menarcheal age was 12.89±1.31-years. Regarding cycle length, 42 (8.2%) of the women had cycles shorter than 21-days, 402 (78.2%) between 21 and 35-days, and 70 (13.6%) had cycles longer than 35-days. Concerning menorrhagia, 61 (11.8%) reported a small quantity of blood loss, 363 (70.1%) a medium quantity, and 94 (18.1%) reported a large loss of blood (menorrhagia). Duration of menstrual bleeding also showed variability with 33 (6.4%), 280 (54.2%), and 204 (39.5%) reporting menstrual bleeding lasting less than 3-days, 2 to 5-days, and greater than 5-days, respectively. The overall prevalence of dysmenorrhea was 61.7% (n=319) of the sample, while 36.3% (n=187) reported irregular menstrual cycles. Logistic regression indicated that early menarche, long menses duration, large self-reported amount of blood loss, and early age of first sexual intercourse were significant predictors of dysmenorrhea, while women with small self-reported amount of blood loss, a short menses duration, and long cycles were less likely to have dysmenorrhea. Concerning the timing of menarche, participants who were over-weight, grew up in urban environments, had dysmenorrhea, had early first consensual sexual intercourse, and grew up without a biological father, were more likely to have early menarche. Conclusion These findings suggest that menstrual disorders are common among a sample of young women from the United States and also identify sociodemographic variables that are related to menarcheal age.

Trends in child marriage, sexual violence, early sexual intercourse and the challenges for policy interventions to meet the sustainable development goals

IntroductionChild marriage remains a prevalent issue in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) despite global declines. Girls are disproportionately affected, facing health risks, limited education, and restricted decision-making power. We aim to provide insights for child marriage prevalence across LMIC from 1990 to 2020, with a focus on sexual violence and early sexual intercourse for public health policy interventions.MethodsThis study used World Bank datasets to assess progress in addressing child marriage in LMIC countries. Statistical analyses, including trend analysis and compound annual growth rate (CAGR), were conducted to evaluate indicators of first marriage, sexual violence, and sexual intercourse. Countries with sufficient data were categorized based on prevalence rates and trends, and detailed analysis focused on significant indicators.ResultsWhile significant reductions were observed in the prevalence of child marriage before the age of 15 and 18 and early sexual intercourse in most countries, few countries show increasing trends, and others could not demonstrate statistical trends due to data limitations, such as scarcity of data for boys. Overall, many countries showed a decline in sexual violence and early sexual intercourse before the age of 15, but some exhibited increasing trends. For instance, Zambia and Senegal showed a decreasing trend of sexual violence, while Nigeria exhibited an increasing trend. Notably, Uganda, Cameroon, and Sierra Leone for women, and Namibia, Zambia, and Kenya for men, experienced substantial decline in early sexual intercourse.ConclusionThere is a decline in child marriage, sexual violence, and early sexual intercourse in most countries independent from the income group. Only a few countries show slight increasing trends. The improvements confirm that policies that address education, employment, and deep-rooted gender inequality at the societal level seem to be effective and help reach the SDG. However, better data are needed to enhance the understanding of the development of child marriage in these countries to improve the effectiveness of policy intervention. Therefore, we recommend that policymakers not only include existing evidence that continues progress but also increase and improve the monitoring of relevant indicators.

Unpacking the Impact of Early Adverse Childhood Experiences on Early Onset of Sexual Intercourse Among an Urban Birth Cohort of Early Adolescents

PurposeEarly adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) predict early onset of sexual intercourse. However, patterns of ACEs identified using latent class analysis (LCA) and their links to early sexual intercourse have been less examined. In this study, we apply LCA to identify ACEs profiles at age five and to examine whether these profiles differentially predict adolescents' sexual initiation. MethodsWe analyzed data obtained from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study for 3,185 participants (male = 1,638; female = 1,547). This included parental/caregivers' reports of 10 types of ACEs when participants were on average at age five and youth self-report data on sexual intercourse before or at age 15. We used LCA to classify the participants into subgroups and multinomial logistic regressions to examine differences in early sexual initiation among the ACEs subgroups. ResultsLCA showed evidence of four classes for both genders: low adversity (51.8%), socioeconomic adversity (32.0%), family dysfunction (12.0%), and abuse (4.2%). We found class membership differences in early sexual intercourse in all three adversity classes compared to the low adversity group. Pairwise comparison tests further revealed that adolescents in the family dysfunction class had lesser odds of engaging in early sexual intercourse than their counterparts in the socioeconomic adversity and abuse classes. DiscussionOur findings suggest that LCA could help identify meaningful and distinctive child adversity patterns while accounting for the co-occurrence of ACEs. This is particularly helpful in evaluating who might be at greatest health risk which can further inform more effective and targeted interventions.

Factors associated with early sexual intercourse debut among female adolescents in the municipality of Parakou (Benin) in 2021

Factors associated with early sexual intercourse debut among female adolescents in the municipality of Parakou (Benin) in 2021

Longitudinal Patterns of Multidimensional Violence Exposure and Adolescent Early Sexual Initiation.

Early sexual intercourse is associated with sexually transmitted infections, pregnancy, and depressive symptoms, and delay of intercourse allows adolescents opportunities to practice relationship skills (Coker et al., 1994; Harden, 2012; Kugler et al., 2017; Spriggs & Halpern, 2008). Thus, understanding predictors of early sexual intercourse is crucial. Prior research has suggested that violence exposure is associated with early initiation of sexual intercourse in adolescence (Abajobir et al., 2018; Orihuela et al., 2020). However, most studies have looked only at a single type of violence exposure. In addition, little research has examined longitudinal patterns of violence exposure in order to determine whether there are particular periods when the violence exposure may have the strongest impact on sexual behavior. Guided by life history and cumulative disadvantage theories, we use longitudinal latent class analysis and data from the Future of Families and Child Well-being Study (N = 3,396; 51.1% female, 48.9% male) to examine how longitudinal patterns of multiple types of violence exposures across ages 3 to 15 are associated with early sexual initiation in adolescence. Findings suggest that experiencing persistent physical and emotional abuse across childhood was associated with the greatest prevalence of early sexual initiation. Early exposure to violence was not consistently associated with greater likelihood of sexual initiation; instead, early abuse was more strongly associated with sexual initiation for boys, while late childhood abuse was more strongly associated for girls. These findings suggest that gender-sensitive programs are highly needed to address unique risk factors for boys' and girls' sexual behaviors.

Sexual and Physical Victimization and Health Correlates Among Norwegian Adolescents.

Large-scale epidemiological studies have documented that many children and adolescents are exposed to different forms of victimization experiences. However, such population-based studies have rarely examined how specific types of victimization are correlated with health indicators. Thus, we investigated sexual victimization, physical victimization by parents, and physical victimization by peers and their associations with sexual health, mental health, and substance use. We gathered data from a nationally representative sample of Norwegian 18-19-year-old students in their final year of senior high school (N = 2075; 59.1% girls). The analyses showed that 12.1% of the adolescents reported sexual victimization experiences. Physical victimization was more prevalent: 19.5% of the respondents had been exposed to victimization from parents and 18.9% from peers. Multivariate analyses revealed specific associations between sexual victimization and a range of sexual health indicators, such as early sexual intercourse debut, many sexual partners, engaging in sex without contraception while intoxicated, and participating in sexual acts for payment. Neither physical victimization from parents nor from peers were correlated with these variables. However, all three forms of victimization were associated with impaired mental health and potential substance use problems. We conclude that a variety of victimization experiences should be addressed in policies for prevention of adolescent mental health and substance use problems. In addition, a special emphasis is warranted regarding sexual victimization: Sexual health policies should address such potential experiences in addition to more traditional themes such as reproductive health and should also include low-threshold services for young victims of sexual victimization.

Identifying causal associations between early sexual intercourse or number of sexual partners and major depressive disorders: A bidirectional two-sample Mendelian randomization analysis

BackgroundEarly sexual intercourse and a greater number of sexual partners have been proved associated with depression. However, the causality of these associations is not clear. MethodsTo unveil the causal associations between sexual factors and major depression disorder (MDD). The bidirectional, two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study was conducted, which used genetic variants associated with two sexual factors (age first had sexual intercourse, n = 406,457; lifetime number of sexual partners, n = 378,882) and MDD (n = 500,199) from the largest genome-wide association studies (GWASs) conducted by the UK biobank and the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium. The two-step MR analysis was applied to assess mediation. The Genetic predictors for five risky behaviors were also obtained from the most up-to-date GWAS conducted by the UK Biobank (ever self-harmed: 117,733; ever attempted suicide: 4933; psychoactive substance abuse, alcohol use, and tobacco use: 463,010). ResultsMR analysis indicated a risky causal effect of age first had sexual intercourse (OR = 0.720, 95 % CI: 0.661–0.784, P = 2.45 × 10−14) and lifetime number of sexual partners (OR = 1.656, 95 % CI: 1.356–2.022, P = 7.46 × 10−7) on MDD. Mediation analysis showed the effects were mediated by tobacco use, with a proportion of 34.20 % on age first had sexual intercourse and 22.94 % on lifetime number of sexual partners separately. LimitationsThe overlap of participants in different traits and unclear gender. ConclusionsRobust genetic evidence indicated that premature sexual intercourse and more sexual partners were risks for MDD. Risky behaviors, especially the tobacco use, mediated this effect.

Role of proximate and non-proximate determinants in children ever born among Indian women: Change detection analysis from NFHS-3 & 5

India is a developing nation and has achieved a significant reduction in fertility. This study attempted to identify the trend of change in children ever born (CEB) against proximate and non-proximate factors over the 2005–2019 period. This study used secondary data from the National Family Health Survey. The count outcome “children ever born” was separately analyzed against several factors for two periods to mark the changes through a Poisson regression model. The results revealed that the mean number of CEB had declined irrespective of the factors. However, the incidence rate ratio (IRR) of CEB increased particularly against certain factors. In the subsequent period, the IRR of CEB increased among women who had more than three daughters at home and were engaged in early sexual intercourse. More aggressive policies should be adopted to delay the early debut of sexual intercourse and disseminate awareness among couples that the sex of the children does not matter.

Trends in Early Sexual Initiation and Its Association with Socio-Environmental Factors among Korean Adolescents.

There has been no research on the trends in early sexual initiation associated with socio-environmental factors in Korea. This study aimed to examine the trends of early sexual initiation with various socio-environmental factors among adolescents. The Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey data were used, and two pooled datasets extracted from the 2006-2008 and 2014-2016 waves were conducted and compared. In this study, early sexual initiation was defined as sexual intercourse at the age of 13 years or younger. The weighted percentage and 95% confidence interval reporting early sexual initiation were estimated, and multiple logistic regression was performed for each subgroup of socio-environmental variables with the 2006-2008 pooled data as a reference. Regardless of sex, the weighted percentage of adolescents with sexual experience who reported early sexual initiation increased in 2014-2016 with statistical significance in most cases. Moreover, the possibility of experiencing early sexual intercourse overtime was more prominent among girls than boys. While indifference to adolescent sexual behavior continues, more adolescents become involved in early sexual initiation. Socio-environmental considerations, such as the establishment of safe environments for adolescents' sexual activity, along with systematized monitoring mechanisms, should be administered.

Early-onset of sexual activity as a potential risk of cervical cancer in Africa: A review of literature.

In most African countries, cervical cancer is the most common cancer among women, both in terms of incidence and fatality. In the existing literature, age is risk factor for developing cervical cancer since it occurs mainly after the middle life of women. However, there have been contradictory findings in the literature on whether early sexual intercourse is linked to cervical cancer, with some studies indicating no relationship and others reporting an increased risk. Hence, this review analyzed data from recently published studies on cervical cancer. Seven databases (MEDLINE via PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, Medscape, EMBASE, African Journals Online and Science Direct) were searched for papers published from January 2000 to March 2022 in English. Ten studies were included in analysis. The statistical analysis was performed using STATA 11. Heterogeneity between-study was explored by forest plot and inconsistency index (I2). The publication bias was checked by a funnel plot and Egger's test. The pooled estimates of odds ratios were calculated by a random-effects model. In the subgroup analysis, there was no significant association between early sexual activity and cervical cancer. However, the overall pooled analysis of these ten studies revealed that there is an association between early sexual debut and cervical cancer. In the random effect model, we found a pooled odds ratio of 2.95 (95% CI = 1.06, 4.83), indicating that women who began sexual intercourse before the age of 18 had a higher risk of getting cervical cancer than adult women. In this analysis, women who began having early sexual debut had a greater risk of developing cervical cancer than those who initiated sexual intercourse later in life. Delaying the age of first sexual activity among adolescents could help prevent the occurrence of cervical cancer.

Risk factors for ectopic pregnancy in a sub-Saharan African country.

Our case-control study aimed at identifying the risk factors (RFs) for ectopic pregnancy (EP), and was carried out between 1st February and 31st May, 2019. Women who had EP were compared to those without EP. Out of 3421 pregnancies, 93 (2.7%) had EP. Independent RFs were previous EP, past history of infertility, first sexual encounter <15 years, past history of chlamydia infection, ≥ 3 sexual partners, use of levonorgestrel based emergency contraceptive pill, and unemployment. Girls should be counselled concerning these RFs and specifically against early sexual intercourse and multiple sexual partnership.

Prevalence and correlates of modifiable risk factors for cervical cancer and HPV infection among senior high school students in Ghana: a latent class analysis

BackgroundWhile health risk behaviours are likely to co-occur, there is dearth of studies exploring the clustering of cervical cancer and HPV infection risk factors among adolescents. This study aimed to determine: 1) the prevalence of modifiable risk factors for cervical cancer and HPV infection, 2) the clustering of modifiable risk factors for cervical cancer and HPV infection, and 3) factors associated with the identified clusters.MethodsFemale students (aged 16–24 years, N = 2400) recruited from 17 randomly selected senior high schools in the Ashanti Region, Ghana completed a questionnaire assessing modifiable risk factors for cervical cancer and HPV infection including sexual experience, early sexual intercourse (< 18 years), unprotected sex, smoking, sexually transmitted infections (STIs); multiple sexual partners (MSP) and smoking. Latent class analysis explored separate classes of students according to their risk factor profiles for cervical cancer and HPV infection. Latent class regression analysis explored factors associated with latent class memberships.ResultsApproximately one in three students (34%, 95%CI: 32%-36%) reported exposure to at least one risk factor. Two separate classes emerged: high-risk and low-risk (cervical cancer: 24% and 76% of students, respectively; HPV infection: 26% and 74% of students, respectively). Compared to participants in the low-risk classes i) the cervical cancer high-risk class were more likely to report exposure to oral contraceptives; early sexual intercourse (< 18 years); STIs; MSP and smoking; and ii) the HPV infection high risk class were more likely to report exposure to sexual intercourse; unprotected sex and MSP. Participants with higher risk factor knowledge had significantly higher odds of belonging to cervical cancer and HPV infection high-risk classes. Participants with greater perceived susceptibility to cervical cancer and HPV infection were more likely to belong to the high-risk HPV infection class. Sociodemographic characteristics and greater perceived seriousness about cervical cancer and HPV infection had significantly lower odds of belonging to both high-risk classes.ConclusionsThe co-occurrence of cervical cancer and HPV infection risk factors suggests that a single school-based multi-component risk reduction intervention could concurrently target multiple risk behaviours. However, students in the high risk class may benefit from more complex risk reduction interventions.