Early sexual intercourse the importance of family, school and their surroundings

Background: Few studies in low and middle-income countries have investigated the influence of family and school contexts on the sexual behaviour of adolescents, and they might differ from what has been described by studies in developed countries. The present study investigated the influence of contextual factors related to family and school and its surroundings on early sexual initiation among 14 year-old adolescent from public and private Brazilian schools.  Methods: 27,243 participants of the National Survey of School Health (PeNSE), carried out in 2009, were included in this study. After determining the prevalence of early sexual intercourse (yes/no), we investigated its association with socio-demographic characteristics, use of psychoactive substances, involvement in fights and factors from the family and school contexts by means of logistical multiple regression. Results: 22.9% of the participants reported one or more sexual intercourses, being more frequent among boys (34.3%) than girls (13.1%). The chances of sexual intercourse were lower among private school students and adolescents who reported having received information about the prevention of pregnancy and/or STDs at school. In the family context, living with only one or none of the parents, low parental supervision and having suffered family abuse were associated with higher chances of early sexual intercourse.  The chances for sexual intercourse raised with the increase  of the number of unauthorised absences from school, and were higher among students who reported school absences due to lack of safety at school and/or on the way between  home and  school.  Conclusion: Sexual education, greater family involvement, and prevention of violence at school and its surroundings may contribute to reduced early sexual initiation among Brazilian adolescents.