1 A Study of Sexual Behavior among the Adolescent by Gender By Shu- Hsi Ho Min- Hsiung Chang Department of International Business Ling Tung University, Taichung October 22, 2009

2 Outline  Introduction  Methods: Data Variables Econometrics Model  Empirical Results  Conclusions

3 1. Introduction  This study was to examine the influence of socioeconomic factors, sexual knowledge, attitude to life and hygiene behaviour on sexual behavior among the adolescent students in Taiwan.  Previous studies of sexual behaviour among the adolescent students : Socioeconomic factors : Hutchinson., (2002) ; Clawson et al., (2003) (2002) ; Danziger et al., (2000) Forste et al., (2002) ; Lin (2005) Attitude to life : Santeli et al., (2004) Hygiene behavior: Coker et al., (1994); Mott et al., (1996) Santelli et al., (2004) Infectious Disease : Hogan et al., (2000) ; Kaestle et al (2005) Kahn et al., (2004)  Adolescent sexual behavior has seldom been connected with socioeconomic factors, sexual knowledge, attitude to life and hygiene behaviour simultaneously in Taiwan, particularly for econometrics analysis.

4 2. Methods 2.1 Data Source The Survey of Sexual Knowledge, Attitude and Behaviour of the Students in Taiwan. 2.2 Variables Specification Dependent Variable: sexual intercourse experience Explanatory Variables: (1) Socioeconomic factors: age, living area, school kind continuing study, family relationship, religion. (2) Sexual knowledge: internet, book (3) Attitude : opinion about giving birth to a baby without marriage (4) Hygiene behaviour : smoke, betel nut

5 Econometric Method: Binary Probit Model Sexual Behavior Socioeconomic Factors Sexual Knowledge Sexual Attitude Error Term Hygiene Behavior

6 Table 1 Characteristics of the Sample Variables% Sexual Behaviour Never7, Yes1, Socioeconomic Factors Gender Boy3, Girl4, Age , , Area Rural2, Urban5,

7 Table 1 (Continued) School Kind% (1)Public School3, Private School5, (2)General high school3, Vocational high schools3, Five years college1, Continuing study8, Living With Parents6, Others1, Family Relationship Good7, Poor1, Religion5,

8 Table 1 (Continued) Sexual Knowledge% Sexual Internet Never3, Few4, Often Sexual Book Never1, Yes7, Attitude- The opinion about giving birth to a baby without marriage Approve No Command3, Against5, Hygiene Behaviour Smoke2, Ben-nut

9 Gender Sexual Behaviour Boy (3,937)Girl (4,558) Never (7,472)3,3874,085 Yes (1,023) Table 2:The cross analysis between gender and sexual behaviour Pearson chi2(1) = Pr = 0.000

10 Table 3 Probit Marginal Effects of Adolescent Sexual Behaviour Variables Boys (n = 3,937) Girls (n = 4,558) dy/dxp p Socioeconomic Factors 1. Age Area Rural-- Urban School Kind (1)Public School-- Private School (2)General high school-- Vocational high schools Five years college

11 Table 3 (Continued) 4. Continuing study Yes-- No Living With Parents-- Others Family Relationship Good-- Poor Religion Yes-- No Sexual Knowledge 1. Internet Never-- Yes

12 Table 3 (Continued) 2. Sexual Internet Never-- Few Often Sexual Book Never-- Yes Attitude- The opinion about giving birth to a baby without marriage Approve No Command-- Against

13 Table 3 (Continued) Hygiene Behaviour 1. Smoke No-- Yes Ben-nut No-- Yes Log likelihood LR (18) Pseudo

14 4. Discussion For the Socioeconomic Factors: Students who were relatively older and studied in private schools were more likely to show significant and positive influence on sexual behaviour regardless of gender. In contrast, adolescent students living with parents and maintaining excellent family relationship were less likely to present sexual behaviour experience.

15 Nevertheless, this paper highlights that the girls living in urban revealed a significantly higher probability of sexual behaviour than those living in rural, but area variable showed significance only for girls. Contrast patterns were observed for religion belief. Boys with devout belief had a significantly lower probability of sexual behaviour than those who never had. Similarly, religion variable showed significance only for boys but insignificance for girls.

16 4. Discussion For the Sexual Knowledge: Sexual internet variable strongly associated with sexual behaviour for both young boys and girls, but sexual books variable showed statistics significance only for girls For the Attitude to Life : Adolescent students with strict attitude to life demonstrated significant and negative effects on sexual behaviour regardless of gender

17 4. Discussion For the Hygiene Behavior: Ben-nut variable showed a significant influence on sex behaviour for boys but an insignificant influence on such for girls. However, smoking showed significance for both boys and girls.

18 4. Conclusion Findings suggest that the kind of school, family relationship, attitude to life and hygiene behavior have strong and significant influences on sex behaviour for the adolescent students, but these variables have different significant effects on sex behaviour between boys and girls. Results imply that the developing strategies that target adolescent sexual education, we should take into account the gender difference.

19 Your suggestions are warmly welcome ！