Early Initiation of Sexual Intercourse and its Co-Occurrence with other Health-Risk Behaviors in High School Students: The 1993 North Carolina Youth Risk Behavior Survey

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between early onset of sexual intercourse (SI) and selected at-risk and preventive behaviors as a function of race and gender in an in-school adolescent population. Data from the 1993 North Carolina Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), a statewide sample of public high school students, were analyzed. Of the 2,439 Ss who completed questionnaires, 49.2 percent were male and 50.6 percent female. This study only examined data obtained from 1,595 white Ss and 693 black Ss, representing 65.4 percent and 28.4 percent of all respondents, respectively. Odds ratios were computed for those risk behaviors correlated with early onset of SI, comparing students who reported they never had SI with those who initiated SI: prior to age 13, between 13 and 14 years old, and at age 15 or older. For behaviors identified as consequences of early onset of SI, Ss who reported delaying initiation (age 15 or older) were compared with those who initiated: prior to age 13, and between ages 13 and 14. Multiple logistic regression analyses were used to detect statistical significance (p < .01); adjusted odds ratios were computed to determine strength of association. Findings indicated that 50.7 percent of white females, 43.1 percent of white males, 27.4 percent of black females, and 12.8 percent of black males reported never having had SI. Three hundred forty-four students (15.7percent) reported engaging in SI before age 13. Of these, slightly more than four in 10 (40.1 percent) were black males, followed by white males (31.6 percent), black females (19.2 percent), and white females (9.1 percent). Early initiation of SI was related to: carrying weapons to school, fighting, smoking cigarettes before age 13 and early onset of alcohol use across all groups, and suicide ideation, smoking regularly before age 13, and living with an adult other than a parent in all but black males. For sexually experienced Ss, early initiation wasassociatedwith: an increased number of lifetime partners and increased likelihood of being diagnosed with an STD in all groups, and a substantially greater risk of pregnancy in white males and white females. Results of this study are considered within the context of data collected from other states and a national sample. Implications for intervention programs are discussed.