Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Role of Religion in Preventing Youth Sexual Activity in Malaysia: A Mixed Methods Study

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Religion and Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

One of the popular approaches of preventing youth sexual activity in Malaysia is using religion to promote premarital sexual abstinence. Despite this intervention, youth continue to practise premarital sex. Thus, the purpose of this exploratory mixed methods study was to understand the role of religion on sexual activity among college students in Klang Valley, Malaysia. A self-administered questionnaire survey to determine the relationship between religiosity and youth sexual activity was carried out on 1026 students recruited from 12 randomly selected colleges. Concurrently, face-to-face interviews were conducted on 15 students to explore how religiosity had influenced their decision on sexual activity. The survey data were analysed using logistic regression, while the qualitative data from the interviews were examined using thematic analysis with separate analysis for each gender. Both quantitative and qualitative results were then compared and integrated. Religious activity significantly reduced the risk of continuing sexual activity among female students (AOR = 0.67, CI = 0.47, 0.95, p = 0.02) but not male students. There was no significant relationship of religious affiliation and intrinsic religiosity (inner faith) to sexual activity by gender. Having faith in religion and strong sexual desire were the main themes that explained participants’ sexual behaviour. Engaging in religious activity might be effective at preventing female students from being sexually active. However, when sexual urges and desires are beyond control, religiosity might not be effective.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adamczyk, A., & Hayes, B. E. (2012). Religion and sexual behaviors understanding the influence of Islamic cultures and religious affiliation for explaining sex outside of marriage. American Sociological Review, 77(5), 723–746.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ahmad, Y., Sipon, S., & Mutalib, M. M. A. (2007). Peranan kerohanian dalam menangani gejala dadah (The role of spirituality in addressing the drug menace). Journal Antidadah Malaysia, 2(2), 137–154.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ahmed, S. R., Fowler, P. J., & Toro, P. A. (2011). Family, public and private religiousness and psychological well-being over time in at-risk adolescents. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 14(4), 393–408.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ahrold, T. K., Farmer, M., Trapnell, P. D., & Meston, C. M. (2011). The relationship among sexual attitudes, sexual fantasy and religiosity. Archives of Sexual Behaviour, 40(3), 619–630.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alquaiz, A. M., Almuneef, M. A., & Minhas, H. R. (2012). Knowledge, attitudes, and resources of sex education among female adolescents in public and private schools in Central Saudi Arabia. Saudi Medical Journal, 33(9), 1001–1009.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bradshaw, M., & Ellison, E. C. (2009). The nature-nurture debate is over, and both sides lost! Implications for understanding gender differences in religiosity. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 48(2), 241–251.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Burdette, A. M., & Hill, T. D. (2009). Religious involvement and transitions into adolescent sexual activities. Sociology of Religion, 70(1), 28–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collett, J. L., & Lizardo, O. (2009). A power-control theory of gender and religiosity. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 48(2), 213–231.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, L. M., Fehring, R. J., Jarrett, K. M., & Haglund, K. A. (2008). The influence of religiosity, gender, and language preference acculturation on sexual activity among Latino/a adolescents. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 30(4), 447–462.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, L. M., Haglund, K., Fehring, R. J., & Pruszynski, J. (2011). Religiosity and sexual risk behaviors among Latina adolescents: trends from 1995 to 2008. Journal of Women’s Health, 20(6), 871–877.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fatusi, A., & Blum, R. (2008). Predictors of early sexual initiation among a nationally representative sample of Nigerian adolescents. BMC Public Health, 8(1), 136.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Gold, M. A., Sheftel, A. V., Chiappetta, L., Young, A. J., Zuckoff, A., DiClemente, C. C., & Primack, B. A. (2010). Associations between religiosity and sexual and contraceptive behaviors. Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology, 23(5), 290–297.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Graham, J., & Haidt, J. (2010). Beyond beliefs: Religions bind individuals into moral communities. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 14(1), 140–150.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Haglund, K. A., & Fehring, R. J. (2010). The association of religiosity, sexual education, and parental factors with risky sexual behaviors among adolescents and young adults. Journal of Religion and Health, 49(4), 460–472.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hardy, S. A., & Raffaelli, M. (2003). Adolescent religiosity and sexuality: an investigation of reciprocal influences. Journal of Adolescence, 26(6), 731–739.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Holdcroft, B. B. (2006). What is religiosity. Catholic Education: A Journal of Inquiry and Practice, 10(1), 89–103.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ibrahim, F., Sarnon, N., Alavi, K., Mohamad, M. S., Akhir, N. M., & Nen, S. (2012). Empowering knowledge of religiosity among delinquent teenagers behavior: Towards a prosperous formation of teenagers morals. Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 7(8), 84–93.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ismail, A. M., Othman, M. Y., & Dakir, J. (2011). The development of human behaviour: Islamic approach. Jurnal Hadhari, 3(2), 103–116.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klanjšek, R., Vazsonyi, A. T., & Trejos-Castillo, E. (2012). Religious orientation, low self-control, and deviance: Muslims, Catholics, Eastern Orthodox-, and “Bible Belt” Christians. Journal of Adolescence, 35(3), 671–682.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Koenig, H. G., & Büssing, A. (2010). The Duke University Religion Index (DUREL): A five-item measure for use in epidemological studies. Religions, 1(1), 78–85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, L. K., Chen, P. C. Y., Lee, K. K., & Kaur, J. (2006). Premarital sexual intercourse among adolescents in Malaysia: A cross-sectional Malaysian school survey. Singapore Medical Journal, 47(6), 476–481.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Makol-Abdul, P. R., Nurullah, A. S., Iman, S. S., & Rahman, S. A. (2009). Parents’ attitudes towards inclusion of sexuality education in Malaysian schools. International Journal about Parents in Education, 3(1), 42–56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mason, M. J., Schmidt, C., & Mennis, J. (2012). Dimensions of religiosity and access to religious social capital: Correlates with substance use among urban adolescents. The Journal of Primary Prevention, 33(5–6), 229–237.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Mojahed, A. (2014). Religiosity and preventing risky behaviors. International Journal High Risk Behaviour Addict, 3(3), e22844.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mudassir, A., Syed Azhar, S. S., Kevin, A., & Tahir, M. K. (2010). Awareness of school students on sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and their sexual behavior: A cross-sectional study conducted in Pulau Pinang, Malaysia. BMC Public Health, 10(1), 47–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Noon, H. M., Haneef, M. A. M., Yusof, S. A., & Amin, R. M. (2003). Religiosity and social problems in Malaysia. Intellectual Discourse, 11(1), 77–78.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nor Afiah, M. Z., Rahmah, M. A., Salmiah, M. S., Fazilah, I., & Shamsul, A. S. (2012). Religious personality and smoking among form two students in rural schools in Malacca, Malaysia. International Medical Journal Malaysia, 11(2), 39–44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nurasikin, M. S., Aini, A., Aida Syarinaz, A. A., & Ng, C. G. (2010). Validity and reliability of the malay version of Duke University Religion Index (DUREL-M) among a group of nursing student. Malaysian Journal of Psychiatry, 19(2), 68–72.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rostosky, S. S., Wilcox, B. L., Wright, M. L. C., & Randall, B. A. (2004). The impact of religiosity on adolescent sexual behavior: A review of the evidence. Journal of Adolescent Research, 19(6), 677–697.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salleh, M. S. (2012). Religiosity in development: A theoretical construct of an Islamic-based development. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 2(14), 266–274.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanchez, Z. M., Martins, S. S., Opaleye, E. S., Moura, Y. G., Locatelli, D. P., & Noto, A. R. (2011). Social factors associated to binge drinking: A cross-sectional survey among Brazilian students in private high schools. BMC Public Health, 11, 201–222.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Siebold, C. (2011). Factors influencing young women’s sexual and reproductive health. Contemporary Nurse, 37(2), 124–136.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sinha, J. W., Cnaan, R. A., & Gelles, R. J. (2007a). Adolescent risk behaviors and religion: Findings from a national study. Journal of Adolescence, 30(2), 231–249.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sinha, D. S., Curtis, K., Jayakody, A., Viner, R., & Roberts, H. (2007b). ‘People make assumptions about our communities’: Sexual health amongst teenagers from black and minority ethnic backgrounds in East London. Ethnicity and Health, 12(5), 423–441.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, C. (2003). Theorizing religious effects among American adolescents. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 42(1), 17–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steinman, K. J., & Zimmerman, M. A. (2004). Religious activity and risk behavior among African American adolescents: Concurrent and developmental effects. American Journal of Community Psychology, 33(3–4), 151–161.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stulhofer, A., Soh, D., Jelaska, N., Baćak, V., & Landripet, I. (2011). Religiosity and sexual risk behavior among Croatian college students, 1998–2008. Journal of Sex Research, 48(4), 360–371.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Subhi, N., Bakar, R. A., Ahmad, N., Hoesni, S. M., Ibrahim, F., & Mohamad, M. S. (2012). Sexual relationship among adolescent: Between love and lust. Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 7(1), 15–25.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The researchers sincerely thank all participants who had involved in the survey and interviews. Our gratitude also goes to the Ministry of Education Malaysia and the principals of participating colleges for their support and cooperation.

Funding

The study was funded by the fundamental research grant of the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (FF-2013-328).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Family Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Yaacob Latiff, Cheras, 56000, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Noor Azimah Muhammad

  2. Community Health Department, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Khadijah Shamsuddin

  3. Women’s Health Development Unit, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kelantan, Malaysia

    Zaharah Sulaiman

  4. Faculty of Medicine and Health Science, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Terengganu, Malaysia

    Rahmah Mohd. Amin

  5. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Khairani Omar

Authors
  1. Noor Azimah Muhammad
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Khadijah Shamsuddin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Zaharah Sulaiman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Rahmah Mohd. Amin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Khairani Omar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Noor Azimah Muhammad.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflict of interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Muhammad, N.A., Shamsuddin, K., Sulaiman, Z. et al. Role of Religion in Preventing Youth Sexual Activity in Malaysia: A Mixed Methods Study. J Relig Health 56, 1916–1929 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-016-0185-z

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-016-0185-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation