CONTEXT

Delaying sexual debut is an important HIV prevention strategy, yet few studies have examined associations between both community- and individual-level characteristics and sexual debut among youth in Sub-Saharan Africa.

METHODS

Cross-sectional survey data collected from 8,183 youth aged 11-17 in 160 schools in Nyanza, Kenya, were used to examine the relationships between individual and community measures and the timing of sexual debut. Multilevel discrete-time hazard models were used to identify bivariate and multivariate associations.

RESULTS

At the individual level, youth were more likely to have initiated sex (or had done so at an earlier age) if they had felt pressure to engage in sex from a greater number of sources (odds ratios, 1.3-1.8); perceived that they had a small or (among females) moderate chance, rather than no chance, of contracting HIV (1.2-1.3); or endorsed a greater number of HIV transmission myths (1.1 for both sexes). In addition, males with higher abstinence selfefficacy had a reduced risk of sexual debut (0.95). At the community level, males and females had a reduced risk of sexual debut if they lived in a community where AIDS deaths were publicly acknowledged (0.6-0.8) or the Primary School Action for Better Health program had been implemented (0.8-0.95); risk was also reduced among young men who lived in communities where HIV was discussed at a greater number of parent-teacher association meetings (0.9) or where abstinence was the primary AIDS prevention message conveyed to youth (0.9).

CONCLUSION

Community-level variables are frequently associated with sexual debut and should be included in future research.