1. Incidence and Predictors of Adolescent's Early Sexual Debut after Three Decades of HIV Interventions in Tanzania: A Time to Debut Analysis.
- Author
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Mmbaga, Elia John, Leonard, Frida, and Leyna, Germana Henry
- Subjects
TEENAGERS' sexual behavior ,ALCOHOL drinking ,ANALYSIS of variance ,FAMILIES ,TEENAGERS - Abstract
Purpose: To determine the incidence and predictors of adolescent's early sexual debut after three decades of HIV interventions in Tanzania. Methods: In a cross-section study of adolescents aged 16-19 residing in Morogoro Municipality, information on sociodemographic, parental-and-peer communication, and sexual behaviors were collected. Cox-regression analysis was used to examine predictors of time to sexual debut. Results: A total of 316 adolescents with mean age of 17.5±0.9 were recruited. Half (48.7%) of adolescent were sexually active with mean age at sexual debut of 14.6±2.3. Of these, 57.8% had sex before their 15
th birthday with incidence of early sexual debut of 17.4/1000 person-years at risk. Adolescent family characteristics, peer pressure, alcohol use, parental and peer communication were key predictors of early sexual debut. Conclusion: Parental and peer communication strategies works calling for efforts to increase its scope to reach all adolescents alongside promoting family stability and reducing adolescent alcohol consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2012
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