Family dynamics and early sexual initiation in Canada

• Published in: Cahiers québécois de démographie Vol. 38; no. 1; pp. 41 - 69
• Main Authors: Bignami-Van Assche, Simona, Adjiwanou, Visseho
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: French
• Published: 01.04.2009
• Subjects: Canada; Children; Description; Event History Analysis; Family Relations; Family Roles; Family Structure; Life Tables; Youth
• ISSN: 0380-1721

We explore the role of family structure and family dynamics for early sexual initiation among Canadian youth analyzing the data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) with descriptive methods (life tables and sequence analysis) as well as regression analysis (discrete-time event history analysis). Our results show that, even though they are important factors when considered individually, neither the family structure at the child's birth nor the number of changes of family structure remain significant predictors of early sexual initiation in multivariate analyses. It is rather their combination resulting in the larger family dynamics that is the most important predictor of early sexual initiation among Canadian youth. Adapted from the source document.