Sexual practices in Malaysia: Determinants of sexual intercourse among unmarried youths

• Main Authors: Zulkifli, Siti Norazah, Low, Wah Yun
• Format: Article
• Published: Elsevier 2000
• Subjects: R Medicine
• Online Access: http://eprints.um.edu.my/25841/; https://doi.org/10.1016/S1054-139X(00)00099-9
• Institution: Universiti Malaya

This paper describes findings on selected determinants of sexual intercourse among 468 unmarried adolescents from a survey in Malaysia. Data on respondents' background, sexual experience, contraceptive use, and sexual attitudes are provided. Based on multiple logistic regressions, factors significantly predictive of sexual experience are gender, employment, and sexual attitudes. (C) Society for Adolescent Medicine, 2000. This paper describes findings on selected determinants of sexual intercourse among 468 unmarried adolescents from a survey in Malaysia. Using multivariate logistic regression, respondents' demographic factors, attitudes towards sex, contraceptive use, and living arrangements were analyzed. Overall, it is shown that the proportion of unmarried adolescents who have sexual intercourse is about 13%. Boys (18.18%) are more likely to be sexually experienced than girls (7.11%). It is noted that living away from parents and family, and employment, are statistically associated with sexual experience. By religion, Buddhist reported least experienced (6%), followed by Muslims (12%), and others (21%). Furthermore, 72% of adolescents engage in sex without considering the use of contraception. In terms of adolescents' attitudes towards sex, it is noted that a less conservative sexual attitude score was associated with a 5 times greater likelihood of being sexually experienced than a conservative attitude score. The authors suggest that policy should take into account the availability of sex education and the risks related to sexual activities in Malaysia.