Sexual risk behaviour among in-school adolescents in Central America

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the study was to assess sexual risk behaviours among young people in Central America. Secondary data were analysed from 15,807 school adolescents (mean age = 14.4 years) who were part of the most recent cross-sectional Global School Based Student Health Survey (GSHS) in six Central American countries. Results show that almost a quarter (24.3%) of participants had sexual initiation, with 19.7% in Guatemala and 40.9% in Panama. Among those students who had sexual initiation, 51.7% had it early (≤14 years), 27.7% had non-condom use, 45.1% had non-birth control use and 41.5% had multiple sexual partners. Older age (≥15 years), male sex, psychological distress, suicide attempt, bullying victimization, school truancy, in physical fight, history of alcohol intoxication, trouble from alcohol use, no physical education, physical injury, soft drink intake and low parental support were associated with sexual risk behaviours. One in four adolescents in the Central America had sexual risk behaviours, calling for interventions.

KEYWORDS:

• Adolescents
• sexual risk behaviour
• Central America
• psychosocial factors

Acknowledgments

This paper uses data from the Global School-Based Students Health Survey (GSHS) Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Panama, GSHS is supported by the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease control.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Authors’ contributions

All authors fulfill the criteria for authorship. SP, KP and MESL conceived and designed the research, performed statistical analysis, drafted the manuscript and made critical revision of the manuscript for key intellectual content. All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript and have agreed to authorship and order of authorship for this manuscript.

Availability of data and materials

The data for the current study are publicly available at the World Health Organization NCD Microdata Repository (https://extranet.who.int/ncdsmicrodata/index.php/catalog).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Notes on contributors

Supa Pengpid

Supa Pengpid is a senior professor in the Department of Health Education and Behavioral Sciences, Faculty of Public Health, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.

Karl Peltzer

Karl Peltzer is a chair professor in the Department of Psychology, College of Medical and Health Science, Asia University, Taichung, Taiwan.

Mario Ernesto Soriano Lima

Mario Ernesto Soriano Lima is the coordinator of the Adolescents Health Unit, Ministry of Health, San Salvador, El Salvador.