Characteristics and associations between sexting and high-risk sexual behaviors among college students in Jiangxi Province, China
Duoqin Huang
A , Xin Wan A , Hong Wang B , Jiangqing Chen B , Yanan Zheng B C , Li Li B C and Xi Gong B C *
A
B
C
Abstract
To explore the characteristics, influencing factors, and associations between sexting and high-risk sexual behaviors among college students in Jiangxi Province, China, providing a basis for promoting sexual health education and preventing high-risk sexual behaviors among college students.
A convenient sampling method was used to conduct an anonymous survey on 13,976 students from 15 universities in Jiangxi Province from November to December 2023. Chi-squared tests and binary logistic regression analyses were employed to investigate the influencing factors and associations between sexting and high-risk sexual behaviors.
The reported rates of sexting and high-risk sexual behaviors among college students were 12.7% and 11.0%, respectively. Regression results indicated that the influencing factors for both behaviors included sex, grade, major, sexual orientation, knowledge of HIV/AIDS and family upbringing methods (P-values all <0.05). College students with experiences of sexting were more likely to engage in high-risk sexual behaviors (OR 16.260, 95% CI: 14.032–18.842), including unprotected sex (OR 8.140, 95% CI: 6.994–9.472), multiple sexual partners (OR 8.215, 95% CI: 6.394–10.554), casual sex (OR 17.104, 95% CI: 13.302–21.994) and commercial sex (OR 40.910, 95% CI: 26.660–62.776), and were also less likely to intend to use condoms in the future (OR 1.391, 95% CI: 1.171–1.652).
The prevalence of sexting and high-risk sexual behaviors among college students in Jiangxi Province should not be overlooked, and those with sexting experiences are more likely to engage in high-risk sexual behaviors. Educators should enhance sexual health education and safety control of sexual behaviors among college students.
Keywords: association analysis, China, college students, condom use, high-risk sexual behavior, sexting, sexual health education, sexual health promotion.
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