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Table 3 Comparisons of currently dating and non-dating adolescents’ sexual behaviour

From: Illegal yet developmentally normative: a descriptive analysis of young, urban adolescents’ dating and sexual behaviour in Cape Town, South Africa

 

Girls

Boys

Total (n = 282)

Currently datinga(n = 124)

Currently non-datinga(n = 156)

 

Total (n = 190)

Currently datinga(n = 90)

Currently non-datinga(n = 100)

 

% (freq)

% (freq)

% (freq)

p

% (freq)

% (freq)

% (freq)

p

Kiss

Past 3 months

45.0 (126)

78.2 (97)

18.6 (29)

0.000

65.8 (125)

88.9 (80)

45.0 (45)

0.000

Ever

71.4 (200)

91.1 (113)

55.1 (86)

0.000

88.4 (168)

98.9 (89)

79.0 (79)

0.001

Light petting

Past 3 months

12.8 (36)

22.6 (28)

4.5 (7)

0.000

23.3 (44)

36.0 (32)

12.0 (12)

0.003

Ever

29.4 (82)

42.3 (52)

18.2 (28)

0.000

45.2 (85)

55.1 (49)

36.4 (36)

0.028

Heavy petting

Past 3 months

6.4 (18)

8.9 (11)

3.8 (6)

0.139

10.6 (20)

21.3 (19)

1.0 (1)

0.001

Ever

11.8 (33)

18.9 (23)

5.8 (9)

0.021

19.5 (37)

33.3 (30)

7.0 (7)

0.000

Oral sex

Past 3 months

2.8 (8)

6.5 (8)

0.0 (0)

0.002

4.8 (9)

7.8 (7)

2.0 (2)

0.061

Ever

3.9 (11)

8.1 (10)

0.6 (1)

0.007

13.8 (26)

20.2 (18)

8.1 (8)

0.011

Vaginal sex

Past 3 months

4.6 (13)

9.8 (12)

0.6 (1)

0.002

10.5 (20)

21.1 (19)

1.0 (1)

0.003

Ever

9.3 (26)

16.4 (20)

3.8 (6)

0.005

30.0 (57)

43.3 (39)

18.0 (18)

0.005

Anal sex

Past 3 months

1.1 (3)

2.4 (3)

0.0 (0)

0.085

7.4 (14)

13.3 (12)

2.0 (2)

0.007

Ever

1.4 (4)

3.3 (4)

0.0 (0)

0.037

10.5 (20)

15.6 (14)

6.0 (6)

0.010

Any penetrative sexb

Past 3 months

6.4 (18)

13.8 (17)

0.6 (1)

0.001

16.9 (32)

31.1 (28)

4.0 (4)

0.000

Ever

11.8 (33)

21.1 (26)

4.5 (7)

0.002

34.0 (64)

49.4 (44)

20.2 (20)

0.002

Alcohol use during sex (past 3 months)c

Participant

7.7 (1)

8.3 (1)

0.0 (0)

0.770

29.6 (8)

29.2 (7)

33.3 (1)

0.885

Partner

20.0 (3)

21.4 (3)

0.0 (0)

0.678

25.0 (7)

19.2 (5)

100 (2)

0.017

Either

15.8 (3)

16.7 (3)

0.0 (0)

0.704

33.3 (11)

32.1 (9)

40.0 (2)

0.754

Drugd use during sex (past 3 months) c

Participant

5.3 (1)

5.6 (1)

0.0 (0)

0.803

15.2 (5)

14.3 (4)

20.0 (1)

0.755

Partner

15.8 (3)

16.7 (3)

0.0 (0)

0.504

0.0 (0)

0.0 (0)

0.0 (0)

-

Either

15.8 (3)

16.7 (3)

0.0 (0)

0.504

15.2 (5)

14.3 (4)

20.0 (1)

0.755

Any substancee use during sex (past 3 months) c

21.1 (4)

22.2 (4)

0.0 (0)

0.597

33.3 (11)

32.1 (9)

40.0 (2)

0.754

  1. aParticipants who had a partner at the time of the survey were classified as “Currently Dating” and those who had no partners were classified as “Currently Non-dating”.
  2. bOral, vaginal, or anal sex.
  3. cOnly students who reported that they had penetrative sex in the past 3 months were eligible to respond to these variables.
  4. dMarijuana and/or methamphetamine.
  5. eAlcohol, marijuana, and/or methamphetamine.
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