A meta-analytic exploration of associations between religious service attendance and sexual risk taking in adolescence and emerging adulthood

The Role of Religiosity and Personal Faith in Young People's Sexual Debut and Sexual Risk Taking: A Bayesian Approach

Using a Bayesian statistical approach, this study aimed to provide a robust assessment of associations between religiosity and personal faith, timing of sexual initiation and sexual risk taking in young people. To produce posterior probability distribution of the estimation of associations, this study combined two population-based surveys of emerging Croatian adults and meta-analytical estimates pertaining to international studies published between 2000 and 2020. Regardless of the prior used, age at sexual debut was delayed by both religiosity (correlations ranged from 0.10 to 0.13) and personal faith (r = 0.09-0.13). Apart from delaying sexual debut, the findings suggest a very limited role of religiosity and personal faith in the protection of sexual and reproductive health among young people.

Changes in sexually transmitted infections-related sexual risk-taking among young Croatian adults: a 2005-2021 three-wave population-based study

AIM

To assess the prevalence and dynamics of risky sexual behaviors among Croatian emerging adults in the 2005-2021 period.

METHODS

Three surveys were conducted on large-scale national samples of young adults aged 18-24 in 2005 (N=1092) and 18-25 in 2010 and 2021 (N=1005 and N=1210, respectively). The 2005 and 2010 studies were conducted with face-to-face interviews on stratified probabilistic samples. The 2021 study was conducted by computer-assisted web-interviewing on a quota-based random sample from the largest national online panel.

RESULTS

Compared with 2005 and 2010, the age at coital debut increased for both genders in 2021 (by a median of one year, to 18 years, and by a mean of half a year, to 17.5 years, in men and to 17.9 in women). In the 2005-2021 period, condom use increased by about 15% both at first intercourse (to 80%) and in consistent use (to 40% in women and 50% in men). When we controlled for basic socio-demographics, Cox and logistic regressions indicated that, for both genders, in 2005 and 2010 compared with 2021, the risks/odds were significantly higher for reporting an earlier sexual debut (adjusted hazard ratio 1.25-1.37), multiple sexual partners (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 1.62-3.31), and concurrent relationships (AOR 3.36-4.64), while the odds were lower for condom use at first sexual intercourse (AOR 0.24-0.46) and consistently (AOR 0.51-0.64).

CONCLUSION

Risky sexual behaviors decreased in the 2021 survey compared with the previous two waves, in both genders. Nonetheless, sexual risk-taking is still frequent among young Croatian adults. The introduction of sexuality education and other national-level public health interventions to reduce sexual risk-taking thus remains a public health imperative.