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Unprotected Sex Among Low Self-Control Youth in an Islamic Society: an Explanatory Sequential Mixed Methods Inquiry

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Abstract

Background

Young adults with low self-control are more likely to engage in unsafe sex and other risky sexual behaviours. The primary purpose of the study was to explain the reasons for engaging in unsafe sex among low self-control young adults, taking into consideration cultural, religious, and legal issues as they pertain to extra-marital sex.

Methods

An explanatory sequential mixed methods design was conducted between March 2017 and April 2018. First, the research team collected and analysed the quantitative data from a sample of 400 young adults, between 18 and 28 years old, in Zanjan, Iran, followed by the collection and analysis of the qualitative data from 11 participants who had low self-control trait and history of condomless sex, and concluded by interpreting and synthesizing all results.

Results

The association between condomless sex and low self-control was statistically significant. In the qualitative phase, the emerged themes for condomless sex were (1) low perceived risk, (2) trusting the partner, (3) humiliation posed by friends for condom use, and (4) surrendering to the partner’s insistence on not using condom.

Conclusions

Young adults with low self-control tend to easily engage in unsafe sex. Consulting those with low self-control and improving the needed skills could be useful in preventing unsafe sexual activities and other risky behaviours among young adults.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the study’s participants.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health, Maragheh University of Medical Sciences, Maragheh, Iran

    Mina Hashemiparast

  2. College of Education & Human Development, TAMUCC, 6300 Ocean Dr., Unit 5818, Corpus Christi, TX, 223, USA

    Kamiar Kouzekanani

  3. Department of Public Health, Sarab Faculty of Medical Sciences, Sarab, Iran

    Towhid Babazadeh

  4. Research Center of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences and Department of Health Education and Promotion, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, 14711, Iran

    Hamid Allahverdipour

Authors
  1. Mina Hashemiparast
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  2. Kamiar Kouzekanani
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  3. Towhid Babazadeh
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  4. Hamid Allahverdipour
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Correspondence to Hamid Allahverdipour.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all participants.

Ethical Approval

The ethics committee of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences approved the study protocol (Ethics Code: IR.TBZMED.REC.1393.213). The interviews were recorded anonymously, using code numbers.

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Hashemiparast, M., Kouzekanani, K., Babazadeh, T. et al. Unprotected Sex Among Low Self-Control Youth in an Islamic Society: an Explanatory Sequential Mixed Methods Inquiry. Sex Res Soc Policy 18, 213–220 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-020-00450-0

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