Does young people’s living arrangement matter in their sexual behaviors? A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Abstract

Background: Living arrangement of adolescents/young people is one of the avenues where they get healthy sexual socialization from their parents as part of their developmental process but there are inconsistent finings across researches.

Objective: To estimate the pooled summary of association of young people living arrangement with their sexual behaviors in Ethiopia

Methods: Relevant studies and reports related to young people (10-24 years) living arrangement and premarital sexual practice were searched from libraries. Selected search terms related to young peoples’ living arrangement and premarital sexual practice were used. Cross sectional, longitudinal or case control study designs were selected based on the prior set selection criteria. The information from the eligible articles was abstracted using a pre-specified abstraction formats. Living with a single parent, living with other relatives and living alone were compared against those who were living with both parents using Meta Easy MS 1.04 statistical software. Cochran’s Q test, P-value and the corresponding I2 were calculated to indicate statistical significance of the homogeneity.

Result: The combined effect size of living with a single parent, living with relatives and living alone were OR=1.48; 95% CI= 1.12 -1.97, OR=2.14; 95% CI=1.67- 2.75 and OR=1.84; 95% CI= 1.32- 2.57; respectively, compared to those who were living with both parents. The effect size of living arrangements were: 0.2183, 0.4202.and 0.4021 for living with a single parent, with relatives and living alone, respectively.

Conclusion and recommendations: Living arrangements were found to be important predictors for adolescents’ premarital sexual behaviors. Advocacy works on strengthening parent-young people connectedness are important at both the household and community levels. [Ethiop. J. Health Dev. 2012;26(3):208-215]