Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Tarapacá, Arica, Chile.
Public Health Nursing Department, School of Nursing, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
PLoS One. 2021 Dec 14;16(12):e0260815. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0260815. eCollection 2021.
Early adolescence is a critical stage in adolescents. This is the phase at which many young people start their sexual life early, increasing the risk of sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancy. Few studies have analyzed the factors associated with early sexual initiation in very young adolescents in low- and middle-income countries. Therefore, this study assessed the early sexual initiation stratified by sex and its correlates in a sample of Brazilian adolescents.
The study sample included Brazilian adolescents aged 12-14 who participated in The Study of Cardiovascular Risk in Adolescents (ERICA), a multicenter, school-based, country-wide, cross-sectional study. Early sexual initiation was defined as the first sexual intercourse at or before 14 years old. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify independent factors associated with early sexual initiation.
The prevalence of early sexual initiation was 7% among girls and 18% in boys. In a multivariate analysis, the adolescent's age, mother's schooling, smoking, alcohol consumption, and Tanner Stages were associated with early sexual initiation for both boys and girls. For girls, living with both parents, common mental disorders, and age at menarche were predictors of early sexual initiation, while race and type of school were correlated to early sexual initiation only for boys.
The early sexual initiation was associated with sociodemographic, lifestyle risk factors and secondary sexual characteristics in both sexes, while there were differences between the predictors of early sexual initiation among girls and boys. It emphasizes the importance of sex education and promotes healthy lifestyles in environments through families and schools in early adolescence.
青少年早期是青少年的一个关键阶段。这是许多年轻人开始过早性生活的阶段，增加了性传播感染和意外怀孕的风险。很少有研究分析过低中收入国家非常年轻的青少年中与早期性开始相关的因素。因此，本研究评估了巴西青少年样本中按性别分层的早期性开始及其相关因素。
该研究样本包括参加心血管风险青少年研究（ERICA）的 12-14 岁巴西青少年，这是一项多中心、基于学校的、全国性的、横断面研究。早期性开始定义为 14 岁或之前的第一次性行为。多变量逻辑回归用于确定与早期性开始相关的独立因素。
女孩的早期性开始率为 7%，男孩为 18%。在多变量分析中，青少年的年龄、母亲的受教育程度、吸烟、饮酒和 Tanner 阶段与男孩和女孩的早期性开始相关。对于女孩，与父母同住、常见精神障碍和初潮年龄是早期性开始的预测因素，而种族和学校类型仅与男孩的早期性开始相关。
早期性开始与社会人口统计学、生活方式风险因素和两性的第二性特征相关，而女孩和男孩早期性开始的预测因素存在差异。这强调了在青少年早期通过家庭和学校在环境中进行性教育和促进健康生活方式的重要性。
