Sexual Behavior among Vocational Students in a Southern Province - พฤติกรรมทางเพศของนักเรียนอาชีวศึกษา ในจังหวัดภาคใต้

Abstract

       The objectives of this cross-sectional survey study were to determine sexual behavior among vocational students in a southern province. A one-stage cluster sampling technique was used to draw the samples of 840 students consisted of 543 males and 297 females. Data were collected by using a set of self-administered questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were applied to analyze the data through uses of frequency distribution, percentage, mean, median, standard deviation and 95% confidence interval. Moreover, the weighted sampling was conducted in this study.

       The study revealed that 34.9 percent (95% CI 29.86 - 39.90, design effect 2.88) of the students who were 15-25 years old had the experiences of sexual relation. Most of them had their first sexual relation at the average age of 15.5 years (SD 2.4). The minimum age of first sexual relation was 7 years and the maximum age was 23 years. Mostly, they had first sexual relation with their lovers (78.2%) and strangers (10.9%) respectively. Moreover, the study revealed that they could have the sexual relation with these strangers although they befriended with them less than one day (50%).

       The influential cause of their first sexual relation was to seek experiences (46.4%). They had the first experiences at their own houses or accommodations (76.8%) and the day of their first experiences was Valentine’s Day (54.5%). However, most of them did not use condom (66.9%) while with their same partners (47.8%) and same and new partners (37.9%) respectively. However, most of them sometimes use and did not use the condom (85.7%). Additionally, most of the students currently had only one partner (62.6%) whereas some had more than one partner (36.6%). The study also found that they used to be infected by sexual transmitted diseases (14.3%). Relatedly, some female students became pregnant (43.1%). Most terminated their pregnancy by abortion (90.3%) whereas some kept the babies (9.73%).

Key words: sexual behavior, vocational students