Kaohsiung Journal of Medical Sciences
Volume 25, Issue 4 , Pages 193-202, April 2009

Multidimensional Discriminative Factors for Unprotected Sex Among Adolescents in Southern Taiwan

  • Cheng-Fang Yen

      Affiliations

    • Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University;, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • Department of Psychiatry, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University;, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Chung-Ping Cheng

      Affiliations

    • Department of Psychology and Research Center for Mind, Brain, and Learning, National Chengchi University;, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Shing-Yaw Wang

      Affiliations

    • Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University;, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • Department of Psychiatry, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University;, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Nai-Ying Ko

      Affiliations

    • Department of Nursing, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University;, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Su-Ting Hsu

      Affiliations

    • Department of Psychiatry, Chang-Gung Memorial Hospital–Kaohsiung Medical Center;, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • School of Medicine, Chang-Gung University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • Corresponding Author InformationAddress correspondence and reprint requests to: Dr Su-Ting Hsu, Department of Psychiatry, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, 123 Ta-Pei Road, Niao-Sung Hsiang, Kaohsiung 833, Taiwan

Received 27 October 2008; accepted 30 March 2009.

Article Outline

Establishing the discriminative factors for unprotected sex among adolescents is essential for early identification of at-risk teens and for the prevention of unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. The aim of this study was to examine the discriminative effects of demographic, individual, family, peers, and school life factors on unprotected sex in a large-scale, representative adolescent population in Southern Taiwan. A total of 9,736 adolescent students were recruited into this study and completed the questionnaires. The multidimensional discriminative factors for unprotected sex were examined using χ2 automatic interaction detection analysis and logistic regression models. The results of the χ2 automatic interaction detection analysis revealed that having friends, using illicit drugs, being of an older age, suspension from school, and low family monitoring had discriminative effects on unprotected sex in adolescents. The logistic regression analysis further confirmed the discriminative effect of these factors. Because of the adverse effects of unprotected sex in adolescents, we suggest that parents and health professionals should pay attention to adolescents with the discriminative factors for unprotected sex identified in this study.

Key Words:  adolescents , condom use , risk indicator , safe sex

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PII: S1607-551X(09)70060-9

doi:10.1016/S1607-551X(09)70060-9

Kaohsiung Journal of Medical Sciences
Volume 25, Issue 4 , Pages 193-202, April 2009

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