Rural-urban Migration and Sexual Initiation of Never-married Young Adults from Kanchanaburi, Thailand

Abstract

This study examines whether migration has an effect on young adults’ transition to becoming sexually experienced, using longitudinal data from the Migration and Health Project in Kanchanaburi, Thailand from 2005 and 2007. Survival analysis was used to explore the timing of sexual initiation of never married young adults, and Cox regression was used to examine the effect of migration on the hazard function of sexual initiation. Young adults who did not have sexual experience at T0 (2005) were followed up at T1 (2007) to examine whether they had experienced sexual initiation during the interim period. The results show that rural to urban migration was a strong factor in determining sexual initiation for both male and female never married young adults. Working, originating from urban districts and self-perception of being at risk of HIV also increased the likelihood of sexual initiation for males. Attitudes towards sex were found to have an effect as well; young females who were not sure if sex can be refused were more likely to have experienced sexual initiation compared to their male counterparts.