From coitus to concurrency: sexual partnership characteristics and risk behaviors of 15-19 year old men recruited from urban venues in Tanzania

AIDS Behav. 2013 Sep;17(7):2405-15. doi: 10.1007/s10461-012-0312-0.

Abstract

Understanding the uptake and patterns of sexual partnerships of adolescent males reveals their risky behaviors that could persist into adulthood. Using venue-based sampling, we surveyed 671 male youth ages 15-19 from an urban Tanzanian neighborhood about their sexual partnerships during the past 6 months. The proportion of males who had ever had sex increased with age (21 % at age 15; 70 % at age 17; 94 % at age 19), as did the proportion who engaged in concurrency (5 % at age 15; 28 % at age 17; 44 % at age 19). Attendance at ≥2 social venues per day and meeting a sexual partner at a venue was associated with concurrency. Concurrency was associated with alcohol consumption before sex among 18-19 year olds and with not being in school among 15-17 year olds. We find that concurrency becomes normative over male adolescence. Venue-based sampling may reach youth vulnerable to developing risky sexual partnership patterns.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Coitus / psychology*
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • HIV Infections / epidemiology*
  • HIV Infections / psychology
  • HIV Infections / transmission*
  • Humans
  • Incidence
  • Interview, Psychological
  • Male
  • Sex Work / psychology
  • Sex Work / statistics & numerical data
  • Sexual Partners / psychology
  • Social Environment
  • Social Facilitation
  • Tanzania
  • Unsafe Sex / psychology*
  • Unsafe Sex / statistics & numerical data*
  • Urban Population*
  • Young Adult