Transitions in adolescent boys and young Men’s high-risk sexual behaviour in India

BACKGROUND: The sexual behaviour of adolescents is of importance due to the engagement in risky sexual activity at a too early age, which may be associated with the adverse outcomes. The study aims to understand the transitions in adolescent boys and young men’s high-risk sexual behaviour in India using two rounds of Indian demographic health survey, NFHS-3 (2005–06) and NFHS-4 (2015–16). METHODS: A total of 25,538 in NFHS-3 (2005–06) and 35,112 in NFHS-4 (2015–16) men were considered for the analysis. Men have been divided into two age groups as 15–19 years (adolescent) and 20–24 (young men) for comparison purposes. Descriptive and multivariate statistics have been used. RESULTS: Overall, high-risk sexual behaviour has increased among adolescent boys (64 to 70%) and young men (18 to 27%) from 2005–06 to 2015–16. The trend of live-in relationship has increased among adolescent boys of rural areas (0.6 to 6.0%) as well as in urban areas (3.1 to 10.9%) over the last 10 years. Adolescent boys having 10th and above years of schooling (AOR = 1.98; p < 0.01), residing in urban areas (AOR = 2.23; p < 0.01), and belonging to the affluent class of households (AOR = 1.41; p < 0.05) were more likely to engage in high-risk sexual activity than the young men in India. The odds of high-risk sexual behaviour was higher among alcohol-using adolescent boys (AOR = 1.82; p < 0.01) and young men (AOR = 2.38; p < 0.01) in 2015–16. CONCLUSIONS: The study concludes that early sexual debut, lower prevalence of condom use at first sexual experience, tendency of live-in-relationship, and alcohol consumption indicate the hazardous interconnection between such behaviours among adolescent boys over the last decade which placed them at higher-risky sexual behaviour as compared to young men. Adolescent’ sexual behaviours have both short-term and long-term consequences, and interventions that focus on multiple domains of risk may be the most effective in helping to promote broad reproductive health among young adults.