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Is poverty a driver for risky sexual behaviour? Evidence from national surveys of adolescents from four African countries

Is poverty a driver for risky sexual behaviour? Evidence from national surveys of adolescents from four African countries
Is poverty a driver for risky sexual behaviour? Evidence from national surveys of adolescents from four African countries
This paper contributes to conflicting evidence on the link between poverty and risky sexual behaviour by examining the effect of wealth status on age at first sex, condom use, and multiple partners using nationally representative adolescents' data from Burkina Faso, Ghana, Malawi, and Uganda. The results show that the wealthiest girls in Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Malawi had later sexual debut compared with their poorer counterparts but this association was not significant for Uganda. Wealth status was weaker among males and significant only in Malawi, where those in the middle quintile had earlier sexual debut. Wealthier adolescents were most likely to use condoms at the last sexual act, but wealth status was not associated with number of sexual partners. Although the link between wealth status and sexual behaviour is not consistent, there is evidence that poor females are vulnerable to infection because of earlier sexual debut and non-use of condoms.
adolescents, sub-Saharan Africa, sexual and reproductive health, poverty
1118-4841
83-98
Madise, N.
2ea2fbcc-50da-4696-a0a5-2fe01db63d8c
Zulu, E.
b22484a4-a2f4-4b04-a0ba-8381dfa9b961
Ciera, J.
1410b28c-d832-460a-abe0-c0deea72070e
Madise, N.
2ea2fbcc-50da-4696-a0a5-2fe01db63d8c
Zulu, E.
b22484a4-a2f4-4b04-a0ba-8381dfa9b961
Ciera, J.
1410b28c-d832-460a-abe0-c0deea72070e

Madise, N., Zulu, E. and Ciera, J. (2007) Is poverty a driver for risky sexual behaviour? Evidence from national surveys of adolescents from four African countries. African Journal of Reproductive Health, 11 (3), 83-98.

Record type: Article

Abstract

This paper contributes to conflicting evidence on the link between poverty and risky sexual behaviour by examining the effect of wealth status on age at first sex, condom use, and multiple partners using nationally representative adolescents' data from Burkina Faso, Ghana, Malawi, and Uganda. The results show that the wealthiest girls in Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Malawi had later sexual debut compared with their poorer counterparts but this association was not significant for Uganda. Wealth status was weaker among males and significant only in Malawi, where those in the middle quintile had earlier sexual debut. Wealthier adolescents were most likely to use condoms at the last sexual act, but wealth status was not associated with number of sexual partners. Although the link between wealth status and sexual behaviour is not consistent, there is evidence that poor females are vulnerable to infection because of earlier sexual debut and non-use of condoms.

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More information

Published date: December 2007
Keywords: adolescents, sub-Saharan Africa, sexual and reproductive health, poverty

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 55079
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/55079
ISSN: 1118-4841
PURE UUID: 905f70d0-f286-466d-9942-25ca10fdf3b4
ORCID for N. Madise: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-2813-5295

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 31 Jul 2008
Last modified: 08 Jan 2022 16:01

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Contributors

Author: N. Madise ORCID iD
Author: E. Zulu
Author: J. Ciera

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