Exposure to Sexually Explicit Materials and its Association with Age at First Sex among Youth in Preparatory School of Adama, Ethiopia.

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Date

2021-09

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Addis Abeba University

Abstract

Background:In Ethiopia evidence shows that the median age at first sexual debut among in school youth is below 18 years and majority of them start sexual intercourse early and before marriage. Early sexual intercourse increases risk of sexual and reproductive health problems commonly, sexually transmitted infections (STI) including HIV/AIDS and risk of teenager’s pregnancy and its consequence.One of the major factors for the present-day youth and adolescents’ sexual behaviors is exposure to sexually explicit material. Sexually explicit materials are textual, visual, or aural materials that depict sexual behaviors or acts or that expose the reproductive organs of the human body. It includes erotic and pornographic materials, which get released through print media, video films, Internet, and music videos. Objectives:To assess exposure to sexually explicit materials and its association with age at first sex among youth in preparatory schoolofAdama, Ethiopia. Methods:A cross sectional study design using both quantitative and qualitative approaches was conducted in Adama town from December 07,2020 to December 10,2020 among six hundred four (604)randomly selectedpreparatory school students. Pre-tested, self-administered structured questionnaire and in-depth interview were a method for data collection. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analysis was done to evaluate the degree of association between associated factors and the outcome variables.For the qualitative approch the data was analyzed by thematic analysis. Result:358(59.4%)students were exposed or ever watched sexually explicit materialsand majority of them 246(70.3%)were exposed first to this material in their early age (11-15 years of age). The over all proportion of sexual initiation was 127(21.1%) and the median age at first sex was 17.00 years. This study found that, age at first sex havesiginificantlly associated with exposure to sexually explicit materialsand those who had exposed to sexually explicit materials more likely to start sex early (AOR= 7.55, 95%CI: 1.47-38.75) than those who were not exposed. Conclusion: Currentlly significant number of in school youth consumesexually explicit materials widely and being exposed to sexually explicit materials in early age affects age at first sex.

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Keywords

Sexually explicit materials ,Age,First sex,Youth

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