title: Sexual partners in a rural South African setting.
abstract: The study investigated sexual behaviors among 1573 rural South Africans in their early and late adolescents and young adults. The participants reported their number of sexual partners and behaviors related to sexual experience, including age of their first sexual experience, use of contraceptives, use of substances, and anal sex. The data from 630 adolescents with sexual experience (males: 362; females: 268) were analyzed to test three sequential models to predict the number of sexual partners from student characteristics (i.e., demographics, use of substances, sexual behaviors). Teenagers with early sexual experience and a history of substance-use tended to have multiple sexual partners, confirming the need for targeted HIV prevention interventions for young people in South Africa.
authors.affiliation: The Pennsylvania State University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 16802, USA. exm31@psu.edu
authors.forename: Elias
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mpofu
authors.forename: Alan J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Flisher
authors.forename: Khalipha
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bility
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Onya
authors.forename: Carl
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lombard
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003268:Contraception Behavior; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012747:Sexual Partners / Q000523:psychology*; D013019:South Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires