Characteristics related to the beginning of sexual activity in adolescent women aged 15 to 19 years. San Salvador, 2003

Abstract

The study explored the relationships between the onset of sexual activity and individual, family and neighborhood characteristics in adolescent women of the San Salvador Metropolitan Area (AMSS). The data used correspond to a survey conducted by the Evangelical University of El Salvador (UEES) and the Central American Population Center (CCP) of the University of Costa Rica (UCR) in 2003. A sample of 210 adolescent women was used among 15 and 19 years old, in ten neighborhoods of the AMSS. It was found that 11% have had sexual experience and at least one pregnancy and 7% only sexual experience, making a total of 18.1% of the adolescents interviewed who have initiated sexual activity. Observing that sexual activity increases with age and among adolescents who are not studying. The presence of at least one of the parents is associated with sexual behavior, considering that the interrelations with their parents and the degree of affectivity allow them to be better informed, as well as to feel protected and understood; Some characteristics also represent association; adolescents residing in neighborhoods with better socialization conditions have had a lower percentage of sexual activity. This was an exploratory study whose data represent the adolescents interviewed with the purpose of inducing deeper studies to be able to conclude with greater precision the determinants of sexual behavior of young Salvadorans, which allow the corresponding institutions to respond satisfactorily to their needs in terms of sexual and reproductive health.