Risky sexual behavior among Iranian university students and its relationship with religiosity and familial support

Abstract

Background. Risky sexual behavior (RSB) has emerged as an important public health issue worldwide. Objectives. This study was aimed at evaluating the prevalence of RSB and its risk factors regarding family support and religious beliefs, as well as other risky behaviors among college students in Bushehr city. Material and methods. This cross-sectional study was conducted on a total of 977 students of Bushehr city, southern Iran, in 2016. Participants were selected using multistage sampling. Data collection was performed using a self-administered questionnaire comprised of data on extramarital sexual behavior at three different time points. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 16.0 with the chi-squire test, independent samples t-test and logistic regression. Results. The overall prevalence of RSB was 5.6%, and the lifetime, past year and past month prevalence of extramarital sexual activity was 9.9%, 8.1% and 4.7%, respectively. Approx. 1.5% of the students also reported alcohol and other drug use at last sex and 3.7% reported having sexual intercourse without a condom. The results revealed that age (OR = 1.10), male gender (OR = 2.85), smoking (OR = 2.27), hookah use (OR = 2.23), alcohol use (OR = 6.08) and family support (OR = 0.97) were significantly associated with extramarital sex. Moreover, male gender (OR = 1.94), age (OR = 1.10), hookah use (OR = 2.94), illicit drug use (OR = 3.80) and religiosity (OR = 0.98) were associated with RSB. Conclusions. There is a concurrence of high-risk sexual behaviors in Iranian students and the experience of high-risk behavior is related to other RSBs. Therefore, effective training interventions and programs should be designed and implemented to reduce risky behaviors, especially sexual behaviors.