What Are the Characteristics of 'Sexually Ready' Adolescents? Exploring the Sexual Readiness of Youth in Urban Poor Accra, Ghana
BACKGROUND:
Adolescent
sexual activity, especially among the urban poor, remains a challenge. Despite
numerous interventions and programs to address the negative consequences
arising from early and frequent sexual activity among youth in sub-Saharan
Africa, including Ghana, only slight progress has been made. A plausible
explanation is that our understanding of what adolescents think about sex and
about their own sexuality is poor. In that sense, examining how adolescents in
urban poor communities think about their sexual readiness, and identifying
characteristics associated with that sexual self-concept dimension, should
deepen our understanding of this topical issue.
METHODS:
A total
of 196 male and female adolescents, ages 12 to 19, were surveyed in the 2011
RIPS Urban Health and Poverty Project in Accra, Ghana. The youth responded to
three statements which determined their levels of sexual readiness. Other
background characteristics were also obtained enabling the assessment of the
correlates of their preparedness to engage in sex. The data were analyzed using
ordered logistic regression models.
RESULTS:
Overall,
the majority of respondents did not consider themselves ready for sex.
Multivariate analyses indicated that sexual experience, exposure to
pornographic movies, gender, ethnicity and household wealth were significantly
linked to their readiness for sex.
CONCLUSION:
Sexual
readiness is related to sexual activity as well as other characteristics of the
adolescents, suggesting the need to consider these factors in the design of
programs and interventions to curb early sex. The subject of sexual readiness
has to be investigated further to ensure adolescents do not identify with any
negative effects of this sexual self-view.
- 1Regional Institute for Population Studies, University of Ghana, P. O. Box LG96, Legon, Accra, Ghana. abiney@rips-ug.edu.gh.
- 2Regional Institute for Population Studies, University of Ghana, P. O. Box LG96, Legon, Accra, Ghana. duf2@psu.edu.
- 3211 Oswald Tower, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA. duf2@psu.edu.
- BMC Public Health. 2016 Jan 5;16(1):9. doi: 10.1186/s12889-015-2620-6.
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