Sexual Risk Behaviors among Young People in Bamenda, Cameroon

Data on social demographic and economic characteristics and sexual behavior were collected from 671 youths living in Bamenda Cameroon in 1995. Multivariate techniques were used to analyze the effects of these characteristics on early initiation of intercourse sex with multiple partners casual sex and nonuse of condoms. The average age at first intercourse was 15.6 for males and 15.8 for females. The main reason given for initiating sexual activity was curiosity (53% of males and 42% of females). Some 37% of females and 30% of males however said their first sexual experience had not been voluntary. The most important factors of initiation of sex before age 16 were fathers ethnicity attending school and having a primary and middle-school education. Family composition and household standard of living were the factors most consistently associated with sexual risk behaviors. Compared with youths living in a household with a high standard of living those living in a poor household were 1.4 times as likely to be sexually active at the time of the survey and 1.3 times as likely to have had casual sex in the previous year. Young people living with only one parent were 1.6 times as likely as those in two-parent households to be sexually active 2.8 times as likely to have multiple concurrent partners 1.7 times as likely to have had casual sex in the previous year and 1.1 times as likely not to be using condoms. Living with grandparents generally had a protective effect while living with a sibling alone or with other persons generally increased the likelihood of engaging in sexual risk behaviors. Youths with few economic resources and those with less stable living environments are more likely than other youths to engage in sexual behaviors that put them at risk of contracting HIV. Improving the living conditions of families especially those headed by single women could help curb the spread of AIDS. (authors)