Adverse Childhood Experiences and Age at First Sex in Cebu, Philippines

Hilary Schwandt, Johns Hopkins University
Cynthia Minkovitz, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Michelle J. Hindin, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

We explore the effect of adverse childhood experiences, measured by maternal report, on adolescents’ own report of age at first sex using data from the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey. Maternal reports of adverse childhood experiences were measured when the children were 0-2, 7, 11, and 15 years old. Age at first sex was measured at age 21. Adverse childhood experiences are defined in five domains: parental discord; maternal illness; household poverty; poor appearance of mother, child, and household; and adverse physical environment. Based on Cox proportional hazards regression, we found that boys initiate sex significantly earlier if they grew up in households experiencing maternal illness and characterized by having adverse physical environments. In contrast, age at fist sex for girls is associated with parental discord, household poverty, and adverse physical environments.