Sexual behavior model among young Thai women living in slums in Bangkok, Thailand.

Full Abstract

There has been a dramatic drop in age at first intercourse and concurrent rise in HIV infections among young Thai women living in slums. The participants included 492 young Thai women (average age = 19.7 years). They provided detailed self-perception, emotion, sexual self-efficacy, cognitive strategies, and power in relationships. Logistic regression analysis was used to explore sexual behavior model. Findings highlight the extreme vulnerability of Thai female adolescents who engage in risky sexual behaviors: 55.8% were sexually active with 41.8% having vaginal sex without using condom. Significant enabling factors included perceived ability to precautions (odds ratio [OR] = 1.7), relational gain thinking (OR = 1.5), and curious gain thinking (OR = 1.3). The significant protective factors were decision-making dominance (OR = 0.3), perceived ability to say no (OR = 0.7), and ethical-related punishment avoidance thinking (OR = 0.8). These findings contribute to greater understanding of factors involved in sexual risk taking. Implications for behavioral modification addressing cognition and power in relationships are discussed.

Author information

Author/s: Powwattana, Arpaporn (A);

Affiliation: Department of Public Health Nursing, Faculty of Public Health, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand. phapw(-atsign-)mahidol.ac.th

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Asia-Pacific journal of public health / Asia-Pacific Academic Consortium for Public Health (Asia Pac J Public Health), published in China. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Oct; vol 21 (issue 4) : pp 451-60

Dates: Created 2009/09/28; Completed 2009/11/03;

PMID: 19783560, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/3/2009, IMS Date: )

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