Rethinking HIV-prevention for school-going young people based on current behaviour patterns

Figures & data

Table 1. Assessment scales used.

Scale	Examples of items	Number of items	Response scale	Reliability in this research
Sexual risk scale	I have had sex the past three months I used a condom the last time I had sex	7	Yes/no	0.74 (n = 4067)
HIV knowledge	A person can get HIV from having unprotected sex	9	Yes/no	0.59 (n = 3763)
Life satisfaction	I have the important things I want in life	5	5-point scale	0.55 (n = 3676)
Depression	I feel unhappy, sad or depressed	7	5-point scale	0.68 (n = 3737)
Relationship with caregiver	My caregiver supports and encourages me. My caregiver is a role model of how I want to be.	11	5-point scale	0.74 (n = 3582)
Personal perception of gender norms	I think a woman should obey her partner	11	5-point scale	0.80 (n = 3561)
Perception of community gender norms	People in my community think a woman should obey her partner	9	5-point scale	0.72 (n = 3592)
Attitude towards abstinence	Having sex at my age is responsible/ irresponsible	7	Positive/ negative	0.60 (n = 2832)
Perceived social norms on abstinence	Most people I respect expect me not to have sex	7	5-point scale	0.70 (n = 4067)
Perceived control to abstain	Whether I have sex or not is my own decision	5	5-point scale	0.80 (n = 3865)
Attitude towards condom use	Using a condom every time I have sex is acceptable/unacceptable	8	Positive/ negative	0.66 (n = 2903)
Perceived social norms on condom use	Most of my friends who are sexually active use condoms	6	5-point scale	0.71 (n = 3810)
Perceived control to use condoms	I will be able to use a condom when my friends expect me not to use one	5	5-point scale	0.71 (n = 3810)

Table 2. Grade groups of junior and senior groups.

	Senior boys (n = 1702)	Senior girls (n = 2080)	Junior boys (n = 624)	Junior girls (n = 899)	Total (n = 5305)
Grade 5			14.2	12.4	3.7
Grade 6			16.3	13.8	4.2
Grade 7			34.4	32.4	9.3
Grade 8	21.0	18.3	33.5	39.8	24.5
Grade 9	18.7	21.2	1.6	1.6	15.0
Grade 10	33.0	33.8			24.0
Grade11	19.7	17.7			13.3
Grade 12	7.7	8.9			6.1

Note: Values are in percentage.

Table 3. Reported sexual behaviour.

	Seniors		Juniors		Total (n = 5305)
	Boys (n = 1702)	Girls (n = 2080)	Boys (n = 624)	Girls (n = 899)
Had sex in their lifetime	831 (49.4%) (n = 1682)	623 (30.5%) (n = 2042)	102 (16.3%) (n = 624)	48 (5.5%) (n = 872)	1623 (30.6%) (n = 5304)
Current sex (last 3 months)	408 (27.9%) (n = 1462)	299 (19.4%) (n = 1541)	29 (5.5%) (n = 527)	27 (3.6%) (n = 750)	772 (17.8%) (n = 4337)
Was forced to have sex	157 (10.6%) (n = 1481)	166 (10.0%) (n = 1660)	39 (7.1%) (n = 549)	36 (4.7%) (n = 766)	407 (9.0%) (n = 4522)
Had multiple partners past 3 months	271 (31.3%) (n = 866)	82 (13.1%) (n = 626)			354 (23.4%) (n = 1513)
Sex under influence of alcohol	135 (15.7%) (n = 860)	58 (9.2%) (n = 630)			197 (13.0%) (n = 1515)
Sex for money or gifts past 3 months (transactioinal sex)	84 (9.8%) (n = 857)	41 (6.5%) (n = 631)			127 (8.4%) (n = 1512)
Sex with person more than 5 years older (intergenerational sex)	171 (20.0%) (n = 855)	142 (22.8%) (n = 623)			319 (21.3%) (n = 1498)
Have been pregnant or fathered a child	94 (10.9%) (n = 862)	132 (20.9%) (n = 632)			230 (15.2%) (n = 1513)
Condom use every time past 3 months	484 (57.1%) (n = 848)	337 (55.3%) (n = 609)			831 (56.2%) (n = 1479)
Condom used at last sex	590 (70.2%) (n = 840)	446 (71.6%) (n = 623)			1049 (71.0%) (n = 1477)

Notes: Because of missing values, percentages are given in terms of the number of responses to each question. Number of responses are given per question. For ethical reasons, questions about sexual behaviour and condom use were posed only to the senior learners and are reported for senior learners who reported that they have been sexually active.

Table 4. Distribution of senior learners on the sexual risk scale.

	Risk score	N = 3782	%
No risk	0	2245	59.4
High risk	1	208	5.5
	2	544	14.4
	3	436	11.5
Extreme risk	4	239	6.3
	5	92	2.4
	6	16	0.4
	7	2	0.1

Table 5. Variables related to condom use of senior sexually active learners.

Scales	Condom users (n = 575)	Non-condom users (n = 1039)	T
Perceived social norm supporting condom use	6.82	6.27	5.74***
Attitude towards condom use	8.10	7.68	4.14***
HIV knowledge	8.34	8.07	3.61***
Self-control to abstain	6.23	5.78	3.58***
Self-control to use condoms	5.98	5.6	3.35**
Relationship with caregivers	7.39	7.13	3.34**

**p < .01.

***p < .001.

Table 6. Regression analysis of variables related to sexual risk.

	Beta	t (3631)	p-Level
Perceived social norms supporting abstinence	−0.138	−11.067	<.000
Current excessive alcohol use	0.779	10.676	<.000
Intention to abstain	−0.153	−8.882	<.000
Age	0.161	9.393	<.000
Positive attitude towards abstinence	−0.047	−4.680	<.000
Current cigarette smoking	0.389	4.415	<.000
Personal gender norms	0.034	1.975	<.05
Caregiver relationship	−0.067	−4.379	<.001
Gender	−0.149	−3.120	<.01
Perceived community gender norms	0.046	2.778	<.01