Associations between religiosity and sexual and contraceptive behaviors

Abstract

Study objective: To determine associations between religiosity and female adolescents' sexual and contraceptive behaviors.

Design: We conducted a secondary analysis on data from a randomized controlled trial comparing interventions designed to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Multivariable modeling assessed the association between a religiosity index consisting of items related to religious behaviors and impact of religious beliefs on decisions and sexual outcomes.

Participants: 572 female adolescents aged 13 to 21, recruited via a hospital-based adolescent clinic and community-wide advertisements.

Main outcome measures: Sexual experience, pregnancy, STDs, number of lifetime partners, frequency of sexual activity, previous contraceptive use, and planned contraceptive use.

Results: Mean participant age was 17.4 +/- 2.2 years and 68% had been sexually active. Most (74.1%) had a religious affiliation and over half (52.8%) reported that their religious beliefs impact their decision to have sex at least "somewhat." Multivariate analyses showed that, compared with those with low religiosity, those with high religiosity were less likely to have had sexual intercourse (OR = 0.23, 95% CI = 0.14, 0.39). Among sexually active participants, those with high religiosity were less likely to have been pregnant (OR = 0.46, 95% CI = 0.22, 0.97), to have had an STD (OR = 0.42, 95% CI = 0.22, 0.81), or to have had multiple (>or=4) lifetime partners (OR = 0.38, 95% CI = 0.21, 0.68) compared to those with low religiosity. Levels of religiosity were not significantly associated with frequency of intercourse, contraception use at last intercourse, or planned contraceptive use.

Conclusion: In this cohort, religiosity appeared to be a protective factor rather than a risk factor with regard to sexual behavior and was not associated with contraception use.