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Sexual debut among college students in China: effects of family context

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2021

Yu Shi ,
Ruoheng Liu ,
Hongfei Yu ,
Zhihui Fu  and
Wei Guo Open the ORCID record for Wei Guo [Opens in a new window]
Yu Shi
Affiliation:
School of Marxism, Nanjing University, Jiangsu Province, PR China
Ruoheng Liu
Affiliation:
Department of Media and Communication, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, PR China
Hongfei Yu
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Nanjing University, Jiangsu Province, PR China
Zhihui Fu
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Nanjing University, Jiangsu Province, PR China
Wei Guo*
Affiliation:
Department of Social Work and Social Policy, School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Nanjing University, Jiangsu Province, PR China Centre for Asia-Pacific Development Studies, Nanjing University, Jiangsu Province, PR China
*
*Corresponding author. Email: weiguo@nju.edu.cn
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Abstract

This study examines family context and sexual debut among young people in China. Using data from the 2018 Panel Study of Chinese University Students (PSCUS), it explores how the family is correlated with sexual debut among young people in China aged 18–24 years. The Kaplan–Meier method was adopted to detect a survival function for different family factors and related demographic variables. Cox proportional hazard regression analysis was adopted to calculate hazard ratios for the timing of sexual debut. The average age of sexual debut among the college students was 18.39 years. The Kaplan–Meier analysis showed that sexual intercourse initiation was earlier for female students who had no siblings, and those who had a mother with senior high school (including technical school) education or higher family income, but this correlation was insignificant among male students. The multivariate hazard regression analysis revealed that living in a family with a higher level of fathers’ education, having a lower level of family income and having siblings had positive correlations with later sexual debut among the college students. Moreover, family factors showed gender differences in their associations with the timing of sexual debut, typically parent’s education level, family income and left-behind experience. This study provides a comprehensive perspective on the role of family influences in timing of sexual debut among youth in China.

Keywords

Adolescent sexualityFamily contextChina
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 54 , Issue 6 , November 2022 , pp. 1004 - 1023
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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