Meekers D, Ahmed G
Population Services International, Washington, DC 20036, USA.
J Biosoc Sci. 2000 Oct;32(4):467-85. doi: 10.1017/s0021932000004673.
In Botswana, as in other areas in southern Africa, there is a growing concern about the risks associated with adolescent sexuality. To facilitate the design of policies that can address these problems, it is necessary to gain a thorough understanding of contemporary patterns of adolescent sexual behaviour, and the factors that affect them. This paper examines these issues using data from the 1995 Botswana Adolescent Reproductive Health Survey in conjunction with data from focus group discussions. The results suggest that adolescents become sexually active at an early age, and that many of them, males and females alike, have multiple sex partners. This early sexual initiation implies that adolescent reproductive health programmes should target youths aged 13 or younger. For school-based programmes this implies starting no later than Grade 6 or Standard 1, and preferably earlier. Young males appear to be a particularly vulnerable group that needs further attention. Adolescents perceive that teachers, peers and parents have the largest influence on their reproductive health attitudes. Schools appear to have the most potential for providing reproductive health information, because they reach youths both directly and indirectly by educating their peers. The results also show that male and female sexual behaviour is affected by different factors. Among males, having secondary education strongly increases the odds of being sexually active, presumably because such males make attractive partners. Among females, on the other hand, being in school significantly reduces the odds of being sexually active. This finding is consistent with the policy imposing a one-year school expulsion for pregnant schoolgirls, which was implemented as a deterrent to schoolgirl pregnancy.
与非洲南部的其他地区一样，博茨瓦纳对青少年性行为相关风险的担忧日益增加。为了便于制定能够解决这些问题的政策，有必要深入了解当代青少年性行为模式及其影响因素。本文结合焦点小组讨论的数据，利用1995年博茨瓦纳青少年生殖健康调查的数据对这些问题进行了研究。结果表明，青少年在早年就开始有性行为，而且他们中的许多人，无论男女，都有多个性伴侣。这种过早开始性行为意味着青少年生殖健康项目应以13岁及以下的青少年为目标群体。对于以学校为基础的项目而言，这意味着最迟从六年级或一年级开始，最好更早。年轻男性似乎是一个特别脆弱的群体，需要进一步关注。青少年认为教师、同龄人及父母对他们的生殖健康态度影响最大。学校在提供生殖健康信息方面似乎最具潜力，因为学校通过教育同龄人直接和间接地接触到青少年。结果还表明，男性和女性的性行为受不同因素影响。在男性中，接受中等教育极大地增加了性行为活跃的几率，大概是因为这类男性成为有吸引力的伴侣。另一方面，在女性中，上学显著降低了性行为活跃的几率。这一发现与对怀孕女学生实施为期一年的开除学籍政策一致，该政策旨在威慑女学生怀孕。
