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ABSTRACT
Objective To examine the association between religiosity and sexual and contraceptive behaviours in France.
Methods Data were drawn from the 2005 Health Barometer survey, a random sample of 7495 women and 5634 men aged 15 to 44. We used logistic regression models to study the associations between religiosity and sexual and contraceptive behaviours, by gender and religious denomination.
Results Three quarters of respondents (73%) reported no religious practice, 20% practised occasionally, and 7% regularly. Regular practice was associated with later sexual debut, regardless of religious denomination. Among participants less than 30 years old, religious respondents were less likely to have used a condom at first sexual intercourse (odds ratio [OR] = 0.2 for women, OR = 0.4 for men) or any form of contraception (OR = 0.2 for women). At the time of the survey, sexually experienced adolescents who reported regular religious practice were less likely to use contraception (84.7% vs. 98.1%, p < 0.001). Regular practice was associated with a 50% decrease in the odds of using very effective methods for Catholics, but had no effect among Muslims.
Conclusion This study, conducted in the French secularised context, shows a complex relationship between religiosity and sexual behaviours, which varies by gender, religious affiliation and during the life course.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The Health Barometer survey was conducted by the Institut National de Prévention et d’Education pour la Santé. Funding for the survey was provided by the French Ministry for youth and sports, the French Ministry of health, the National Health Insurance Agency (CNAMTS), and the French Observatory for drogues and addictions (OFDT).
Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and the writing of the paper.
This work was supported in part by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development grant for Infrastructure for Population Research at Princeton University, Grant R24HD047879 (JT).