Factors influencing sexual initiation, multiple partners and condom use among male slum youth in Pune, India

Abstract

This study examines the factors that influence sexual behaviours among young unmarried males living in urban slums in India, a population characterised by high vulnerability to STI and HIV infections. Data were collected from 600 unmarried male slum youth to examine the relationships between three outcomes of heterosexual behaviour (age at sexual initiation, number of sexual partners and condom use at first intercourse) and factors within the family/household social environment, peer environment and individual level during the respondents’ formative years. Regression analyses found factors within the family and peer-level domains such as growing up in a two-parent household, having adequate levels of parental supervision, experiencing violence in the home and having peers who drank significantly impact the age of sexual debut and the subsequent number of lifetime partners. Condom use at first intercourse appears to be significantly influenced by age of sexual debut and type of sexual partner. These findings indicate that in low-resource urban settings, the influence of family and friends as role models can play an important role in determining the initiation of sexual behaviour among male youth and in making behaviour choices that result in favourable health outcomes.

Keywords:

• male
• unmarried
• slum
• youth
• risk behaviour
• HIV/AIDS
• India

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully dedicate this paper to the late Dr Michael A. Koenig, Professor, Department of Population and Family Health Sciences, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA. Dr Koenig was the postdoctoral adviser of the first author at the time of the study and his constant guidance and careful supervision, including a personal visit to Pune to oversee the data collection and the analysis and writing up of the results, made this paper possible. The data collection and analysis for this study were supported by a grant from the Andrew J. Mellon Foundation to the Department of Population and Family Health Sciences, The Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA. The authors thank Dr Shireen Jejeebhoy, whose insightful comments helped bring this paper to the final stages of readiness.

Notes

1. The sample size calculations were based on the objective of the study to compare efficacy of the two interview methods (FTFI and ACASI) and hence was not a representative sample of all urban slum youth. The sample size was arrived at by using a significance criterion of 0.05, power of the significance test of 0.80 and a minimum difference of 7% in the proportion reporting a specific risk behaviour across interview modes.