Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-p2v8j Total loading time: 0.001 Render date: 2024-05-30T06:06:04.030Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Sexual debut among college students in China: effects of family context

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2021

Yu Shi ,
Ruoheng Liu ,
Hongfei Yu ,
Zhihui Fu  and
Wei Guo Open the ORCID record for Wei Guo [Opens in a new window]
Yu Shi
Affiliation:
School of Marxism, Nanjing University, Jiangsu Province, PR China
Ruoheng Liu
Affiliation:
Department of Media and Communication, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, PR China
Hongfei Yu
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Nanjing University, Jiangsu Province, PR China
Zhihui Fu
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Nanjing University, Jiangsu Province, PR China
Wei Guo*
Affiliation:
Department of Social Work and Social Policy, School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Nanjing University, Jiangsu Province, PR China Centre for Asia-Pacific Development Studies, Nanjing University, Jiangsu Province, PR China
*
*Corresponding author. Email: weiguo@nju.edu.cn
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This study examines family context and sexual debut among young people in China. Using data from the 2018 Panel Study of Chinese University Students (PSCUS), it explores how the family is correlated with sexual debut among young people in China aged 18–24 years. The Kaplan–Meier method was adopted to detect a survival function for different family factors and related demographic variables. Cox proportional hazard regression analysis was adopted to calculate hazard ratios for the timing of sexual debut. The average age of sexual debut among the college students was 18.39 years. The Kaplan–Meier analysis showed that sexual intercourse initiation was earlier for female students who had no siblings, and those who had a mother with senior high school (including technical school) education or higher family income, but this correlation was insignificant among male students. The multivariate hazard regression analysis revealed that living in a family with a higher level of fathers’ education, having a lower level of family income and having siblings had positive correlations with later sexual debut among the college students. Moreover, family factors showed gender differences in their associations with the timing of sexual debut, typically parent’s education level, family income and left-behind experience. This study provides a comprehensive perspective on the role of family influences in timing of sexual debut among youth in China.

Keywords

Adolescent sexualityFamily contextChina
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 54 , Issue 6 , November 2022 , pp. 1004 - 1023
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adanikin, AI, Adanikin, PO, Orji, EO and Adeyanju, BT (2017) Survey of sexual activity and contraceptive use among unmarried young school and college drop-outs in a defined Nigerian population. Journal of Biosocial Science 49(5), 675–684.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Akibu, M, Gebresellasie, F, Zekarias, F and Tsegaye, W (2017) Premarital sexual practice and its predictors among university students: institution based cross sectional study. Pan African Medical Journal 28, 234.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Akintola, O, Ngubane, L and Makhaba, L (2012) ‘I did it for him, not for me’: an exploratory study of factors influencing sexual debut among female university students in Durban, South Africa. Journal of Health Psychology 17(1), 143–153.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, KG, Beutel, AM and Maughan-Brown, B (2007) HIV risk perceptions and sexual debut among youth in Cape Town, South Africa. International Family Planning Perspectives 33(3), 98–105.Google ScholarPubMed
Babalola, S (2004) Perceived peer behavior and the timing of sexual debut in Rwanda: a survival analysis of youth data. Journal of Youth and Adolescence 33(4), 353–363.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barnett, RV, Jackson, TL, Smith, S and Gibson, H (2010) The effects of religiosity and sibling relationships on the timing of sexual debut. Family Science Review 15(2), 66–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bearman, PS and Bruckner, H (2001) Promising the future: virginity pledges and first intercourse. American Journal of Sociology 106(4), 859–912.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boamah-Kaali, EA, Asante, KP, Manu, G, Adeniji, E, Mahama, E, Ayipah, EK and Owusu-Agyei, S (2016) Predictors of early sexual debut and its implications among adolescents in Kintampo, Ghana: a cross sectional survey. International STD Research and Reviews 4(3), 1–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chang, L, Chen, BB and Ji, LQ (2011) Attributions and attitudes of mothers and fathers in China. Parenting 11(2–3), 102–115.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chiao, C and Ksobiech, K (2015) The influence of early sexual debut and pubertal timing on psychological distress among Taiwanese adolescents. Psychology, Health & Medicine 20(8), 972–978.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chiao, C and Yi, CC (2011) Adolescent premarital sex and health outcomes among Taiwanese youth: perception of best friends’ sexual behavior and the contextual effect. AIDS Care 23(9), 1083–1092.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Choi, J (2008) Work and family demands and life stress among Chinese employees: the mediating effect of work–family conflict. International Journal of Human Resource Management 19(5), 878–895.Google Scholar
Cox, DR (1972) Regression models and life-tables (with discussion). Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series B 34(2), 187–220.Google Scholar
Crockett, LJ, Bingham, CR, Chopak, JS and Vicary, JR (1996) Timing of sexual debut: the role of social control, social learning, and problem behavior. Journal of Youth and Adolescence 25(1), 89–111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davis, EC and Friel, LV (2001) Adolescent sexuality: disentangling the effects of family structure and family context. Journal of Marriage and Family 63(3), 669–681.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Looze, M, Bogt, TF and Vollebergh, WA (2013) explaining educational differences in adolescent substance use and sexual activity: the role of conceptions and expectations of adulthood. Emerging Adulthood 1(3), 175–184.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dimbuene, ZT and Defo, BK (2011) Risky sexual behaviour among unmarried young people in Cameroon: another look at family environment. Journal of Biosocial Science 43(2), 129–153.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ekundayo, OJ (2007) Factors associated with sexual debut and depression among adolescents in rural Jamaica. Doctoral dissertation, University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA.Google Scholar
Erkut, S, Grossman, JM, Frye, AA, Ceder, I, Charmaraman, L and Tracy, AJ (2013) Can sex education delay early sexual debut? Journal of Early Adolescence 33(4), 482–497.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Etzkin, R (2004) How parenting style and religiosity affect the timing of Jewish adolescents’ sexual debut. Doctoral dissertation, University of Florida.Google Scholar
Fagbamigbe, AF and Idemudia, E (2017) Diversities in timing of sexual debut among Nigerian youths aged 15–24 years: parametric and non-parametric survival analysis approach. African Health Sciences 17(1), 39–51.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fatusi, AO and Blum, RW (2008) Predictors of early sexual initiation among a nationally representative sample of Nigerian adolescents. BMC Public Health 8(1), 136.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gravel, EE, Young, MY, Darzi, CM, Olavarria-Turner, M and Lee, AMS (2016) Premarital sexual debut in emerging adults of South Asian descent: the role of parental sexual socialization and sexual attitudes. Sexuality & Culture 20(4), 862–878.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grossman, JM, Frye, A, Charmaraman, L and Erkut, S (2013) Family homework and school-based sex education: delaying early adolescents’ sexual behavior. Journal of School Health 83(11), 810–817.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Guo, W, Chen, L, Su, Z and Wei, J (2020) The road not taken: sexuality education and its associations with sexual knowledge and attitudes among senior high school students in rural areas of Western China. China Population and Development Studies 4(2), 186–201.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Guo, W, Wu, Z, Qiu, Y, Chen, G and Zheng, X (2012) The timing of sexual debut among Chinese youth. International Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health 38(4), 196–204.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Guo, W, Wu, Z, Schimmele, CM and Zheng, X (2014) Condom use at sexual debut among Chinese youth. Journal of Biosocial Science 46(2), 139–154.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Haurin, RJ and Mott, FL (1990) Adolescent sexual activity in the family context: the impact of older siblings. Demography 27(4), 537–557.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hong, X and Liu, Q (2019) Parenting stress, social support and parenting self-efficacy in Chinese families: does the number of children matter? Early Child Development and Care, doi: 10.1080/03004430.2019.1702036.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jin, X, Liu, H and Liu, L (2017) Family education support to rural migrant children in China: evidence from Shenzhen. Eurasian Geography and Economics 58(2), 169–200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kassahun, EA, Gelagay, AA, Muche, AA, Dessie, AA and Kassie, BA (2019) Factors associated with early sexual initiation among preparatory and high school youths in Woldia town, northeast Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study. BMC Public Health 19(1), 378.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kim, HS (2016) Sexual debut and mental health among South Korean adolescents. Journal of Sex Research 53(3), 313–320.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kuang, F, Wu, X and Liu, C (2021) Research on the influence of lack of family education on mobile game addiction behavior of rural left behind children--based on the survey of 456 children in Jiangsu province [in Chinese]. Psychologies 16(9), 1–4.Google Scholar
Lee, DY, Moon, JM, Suh, CS and Choi, D (2012) Factors associated with sexual debut during adolescence in the Republic of Korea. Sexually Transmitted Infections 88(7), 481–483.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lehr, ST, DiIorio, C, Dudley, WN and Lipana, JA (2000) The relationship between parent–adolescent communication and safer sex behaviors in college students. Journal of Family Nursing 6(2), 180–196.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Madkour, AS, Farhat, T, Halpern, CT, Godeau, E and Gabhainn, SN (2010) Early adolescent sexual initiation and physical/psychological symptoms: a comparative analysis of five nations. Journal of Youth and Adolescence 39(10), 1211–1225.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Manlove, J, Wildsmith, E, Ikramullah, E, Terry-Humen, E and Schelar, E (2012) Family environments and the relationship context of first adolescent sex: correlates of first sex in a casual versus steady relationship. Social Science Research 41(4), 861–875.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
March, AL and Serdar Atav, A (2010) Social environment and problem behavior: perceived school safety, gender, and sexual debut. Journal of School Nursing 26(2), 121–130.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Melesse, DY, Mutua, MK, Choudhury, A, Wado, YD, Faye, CM, Neal, S and Boerma, T (2020) Adolescent sexual and reproductive health in sub-Saharan Africa: who is left behind? BMJ Global Health 5(1), e002231.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mulugeta, Y and Berhane, Y (2014) Factors associated with pre-marital sexual debut among unmarried high school female students in bahir Dar town, Ethiopia: cross-sectional study. Reproductive Health 11(1), 40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Murray, NJ, Zabin, LS, Toledo-Dreves, V and Luengo-Charath, X (1998) Gender differences in factors influencing first intercourse among urban students in Chile. International Family Planning Perspectives 24(3), 139–152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nnebue, CC, Chimah, UC, Duru, CB, Ilika, AL and Lawoyin, TO (2016) Determinants of age at sexual initiation among Nigerian adolescents: a study of secondary schools students in a military barracks in Nigeria. American Journal of Medical Sciences and Medicine 4(1), 1–7.Google Scholar
O’Hara, RE, Gibbons, FX, Gerrard, M, Li, Z and Sargent, JD (2012) Greater exposure to sexual content in popular movies predicts earlier sexual debut and increased sexual risk taking. Psychological Science 23(9), 984–993.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Oljira, L, Berhane, Y and Worku, A (2012) Pre-marital sexual debut and its associated factors among in-school adolescents in eastern Ethiopia. BMC Public Health 12(1), 375.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Olufemi, AT, Paulin, OI and Akinbode, OO (2018) Prevalence and predictors of early sexual debut among adolescents in Ogbomoso, Nigeria. American Journal of Public Health 6(3), 148–154.Google Scholar
Peng, YH, Shen, L, Wo, JZ, Xiang, YH, Li, E, Zou, GX and Liu, Y (2009) Characteristics of and relationship between sexual behavior, sexual attitude and sexual knowledge in college students [in Chinese]. Population Research 33(6), 85–93.Google Scholar
Pettifor, AE, Van Der Straten, A, Dunbar, M, Shiboski, SC and Padian, N (2004) Early age of first sex: a risk factor for HIV infection among women in Zimbabwe. AIDS 18(10), 1435–1442.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pilgrim, NA, Ahmed, S, Gray, RH, Sekasanvu, J, Lutalo, T, Nalugoda, F and Wawer, MJ (2014) Family structure effects on early sexual debut among adolescent girls in Rakai, Uganda. Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies 9(3), 193–205.Google ScholarPubMed
Potdar, R and Mmari, K (2011) Factors influencing sexual initiation, multiple partners and condom use among male slum youth in Pune, India. Global Public Health 6(8), 843–858.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Richardson, GB, La Guardia, AC and Klay, PM (2018) Determining the roles of father absence and age at menarche in female psychosocial acceleration. Evolution and Human Behavior 39(4), 437–446.Google Scholar
Rosenthal, DA, Smith, AM and De VisserR (1999) Personal and social factors influencing age at sexual debut. Archives of Sexual Behavior 28(4), 319–333.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sandfort, TG, Orr, M, Hirsch, JS and Santelli, J (2008) Long-term health correlates of timing of sexual debut: Results from a national US study. American Journal of Public Health 98(1), 155–161.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sieving, RE, McNeely, CS and Blum, RW (2000) Maternal expectations, mother–child connectedness, and adolescent sexual debut. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine 154(8), 809–816.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Spriggs, AL and Halpern, CT (2008) Sexual debut timing and depressive symptoms in emerging adulthood. Journal of Youth and Adolescence 37(9), 1085–1096.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tenkorang, EY and Adjei, JK (2015) Household living arrangements and transition to sexual debut among young people in Ghana. Sex Education 15(1), 1–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tenkorang, EY and Maticka-Tyndale, E (2008) Factors influencing the timing of sexual debut among young people in Nyanza, Kenya. International Family Planning Perspectives 34(4), 177–188.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Turtiainen, P, Karvonen, S and Rahkonen, O (2007) All in the family? The structure and meaning of family life among young people. Journal of Youth Studies 10(4), 477–493.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Valle, AK, Torgersen, L, Røysamb, E, Klepp, KI and Thelle, DS (2005) Social class, gender and psychosocial predictors for early sexual debut among 16 year old in Oslo. European Journal of Public Health 15(2), 185–194.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, A, Stevens, B, Chen, P and Qian, M (1999) the impact of family socialization practices on children’s socialization in China. Journal of Research in Childhood Education 14(1), 91–102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
WHO (2014) Adolescent Pregnancy: Fact Sheet. World Health Organization. URL: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/adolescent-pregnancy Google Scholar
Zhang, X, Wang, R, Yang, Q, Huang, B and Xu, J (2018) The impact of the family environment on problem behaviors of left-at-home children: the mediating effect of communication apprehension [in Chinese]. Chinese Journal of Special Education 4, 66–72.Google Scholar