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Characteristics of Youth Who Report Early Sexual Experiences in Sweden

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Abstract

Early timing of first sex is a common risk factor for adverse sexual and reproductive health (SRH) outcomes. This study explored characteristics and circumstances associated with early sexual experience (at or below age 14) among Swedish youth. Data were drawn from UngKAB09, a national study of youth SRH in Sweden. 24,000 youth 16–28 years were randomly selected for a web-based survey with a response rate of 24 %. Post-stratification weights were used to correct for over- and underrepresentation in response. Adjusted logistic regression was used to model associations with early sexual experience, by gender. In the final sample (N = 5,321, 49 % girls), 9 in 10 were sexually experienced, of whom 21 % reported early first sex. In multivariate analysis, early sex was significantly associated with 7 of the 9 predictor variables selected for the model among boys and 14 of 15 selected factors among girls. Early sex was positively associated with low educational attainment, early pubertal onset, bisexual identity and (girls only) rural residence. For girls, first generation immigrant status, greater religiosity, conservative sexual attitudes and low Chlamydia knowledge decreased the odds of early sex. Early experience was more common if youth had older partners and, among girls, felt that sex was expected. Being in love, feelings of intimacy, alcohol use at first sex, and (girls only) causal sexual partner and wantedness of first sex were inversely associated with early first sex. The findings and implications are discussed in relation to the European and global literature on early sexual experiences.

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Notes

  1. By “sexual intercourse,” we mean any penetrative sexual relation with a partner, including vaginal, anal or oral sex.

  2. The commission agency shifted in 2010 to the Swedish Institute for Communicable Disease Control, which since January 2014 is included in the Swedish National Institute for Public Health.

  3. The Upper Secondary Education (Grades 10–12) in Sweden differ between Vocational (e.g., Construction and Installation, Vehicle, and Transportation) and Theoretical (e.g., Natural Science, Social Science) concentrations elected before enrollment (Skolverket, 2012).

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the Department of Social Work at Gothenburg University, including the Principal Investigator of UngKAB09, Ronny Tikkanen, PhD, and the Swedish Institute for Communicable Disease Control for sharing the original data. Special thanks also to the technical support from Margareta Forsberg, PhD, co-investigator of UngKAB09.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe St., Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA

    Anna Kågesten & Robert Wm. Blum

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  1. Anna Kågesten
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  2. Robert Wm. Blum
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Correspondence to Anna Kågesten.

Appendices

Appendix 1

See Table 5.

Table 5 List of outcome variables and measures
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Appendix 2

See Table 6.

Table 6 List of independent variables and their measures, including internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha) of scales
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Kågesten, A., Blum, R.W. Characteristics of Youth Who Report Early Sexual Experiences in Sweden. Arch Sex Behav 44, 679–694 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-015-0499-z

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