Attitude toward virginity and its determinants among girls in Tabriz: Iran.
Attitude
Females
Sexual abstinence
Virginity
Young adults
Journal
Reproductive health
ISSN: 1742-4755
Titre abrégé: Reprod Health
Pays: England
ID NLM: 101224380
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
19 Oct 2024
19 Oct 2024
Historique:
received:
06
07
2024
accepted:
06
10
2024
medline:
20
10
2024
pubmed:
20
10
2024
entrez:
19
10
2024
Statut:
epublish
Résumé
We aimed to assess the attitude of unmarried girls towards virginity, and its determinants, comparing three age cohorts (born in the 70s, 80s, and 90s) in the city of Tabriz in northwestern Iran. We conducted a cross-sectional survey among 700 girls residing in Tabriz in 2021 employing a population-based cluster sampling based on health clinics and households. We collected data using a pilot-tested instrument, which comprised socio-demographic questions, and statements to assess attitudes towards virginity and its importance, the meaning of virginity, ways of losing virginity, and perception of the hymen. The data was analyzed using SPSS, version 21. Analysis of variance and independent t-test was used for bivariate analysis and linear regression was used to identify the determinants of the attitude. A p value under 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Only about one-third (35.2%) of unmarried girls considered preserving virginity as an important issue for girls before marriage in current days. About 27% were uncertain and about 38% believed it was unimportant. The importance of virginity (score range 7-35) was significantly greater for girls born in the 70s than for girls born in the 80s and 90s (p < 0.05). In the multivariate linear regression model, the determinants of the importance of virginity were older age, greater religious affiliation, living with both parents and lower consumption of the internet and social networks for sexual information. This study indicates significant shifts in sexual attitudes among young females which may have important implications for marriage age and the culturally and age-appropriate sexual health interventions of young people.
Sections du résumé
BACKGROUND
BACKGROUND
We aimed to assess the attitude of unmarried girls towards virginity, and its determinants, comparing three age cohorts (born in the 70s, 80s, and 90s) in the city of Tabriz in northwestern Iran.
METHODS
METHODS
We conducted a cross-sectional survey among 700 girls residing in Tabriz in 2021 employing a population-based cluster sampling based on health clinics and households. We collected data using a pilot-tested instrument, which comprised socio-demographic questions, and statements to assess attitudes towards virginity and its importance, the meaning of virginity, ways of losing virginity, and perception of the hymen. The data was analyzed using SPSS, version 21. Analysis of variance and independent t-test was used for bivariate analysis and linear regression was used to identify the determinants of the attitude. A p value under 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
RESULTS
RESULTS
Only about one-third (35.2%) of unmarried girls considered preserving virginity as an important issue for girls before marriage in current days. About 27% were uncertain and about 38% believed it was unimportant. The importance of virginity (score range 7-35) was significantly greater for girls born in the 70s than for girls born in the 80s and 90s (p < 0.05). In the multivariate linear regression model, the determinants of the importance of virginity were older age, greater religious affiliation, living with both parents and lower consumption of the internet and social networks for sexual information.
CONCLUSIONS
CONCLUSIONS
This study indicates significant shifts in sexual attitudes among young females which may have important implications for marriage age and the culturally and age-appropriate sexual health interventions of young people.
Identifiants
pubmed: 39427204
doi: 10.1186/s12978-024-01884-0
pii: 10.1186/s12978-024-01884-0
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
149Subventions
Organisme : Tehran University of Medical Sciences and Health Services
ID : This Study is funded by Tehran University of Medical Sciences (grant number IR.TUMS.FNM.REC.1400.021
Informations de copyright
© 2024. The Author(s).
Références
Landor AM, Simons LG. Why virginity pledges succeed or fail: the moderating effect of religious commitment versus religious participation. J Child Fam Stud. 2014;23(6):1102–13.
doi: 10.1007/s10826-013-9769-3
Olson RM, García-Moreno C. Virginity testing: a systematic review. Reprod Health. 2017;14(1):1–10.
doi: 10.1186/s12978-017-0319-0
Ababio P, Salifu YJ. “When you talk about virginity, it’s about females”: views on virginity Among University of Ghana students. Sex Cult. 2017;21(2):549–68.
doi: 10.1007/s12119-016-9404-8
Erickson PI, Badiane L, Singer M. The social context and meaning of virginity loss among African American and Puerto Rican young adults in Hartford. Med Anthropol Q. 2013;27(3):313–29.
pubmed: 24105907
doi: 10.1111/maq.12047
Carpenter LM. Gender and the meaning and experience of virginity loss in the contemporary United States. Gend Soc. 2002;16(3):345–65.
doi: 10.1177/0891243202016003005
Cha ES, Doswell WM, Kim KH, Charron-Prochownik D, Patrick TE. Evaluating the theory of planned behavior to explain intention to engage in premarital sex amongst Korean college students: a questionnaire survey. Int J Nurs Stud. 2007;44(7):1147–57.
pubmed: 16814789
doi: 10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2006.04.015
Barnett MD, Moore JM. The construct validity of the first coital affective reaction scale and virginity beliefs scale. Personality Individ Differ. 2017;109:102–10.
doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2016.12.043
Halpern CT, Haydon AA. Sexual timetables for oral-genital, vaginal, and anal intercourse: sociodemographic comparisons in a nationally representative sample of adolescents. Am J Public Health. 2012;102(6):1221–8.
pubmed: 22571710
pmcid: 3394539
doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2011.300394
Sprecher S, Treger S. Virgin college students’ reasons for and reactions to their abstinence from sex: results from a 23-year study at a Midwestern US university. J Sex Res. 2015;52(8):936–48.
pubmed: 25668052
doi: 10.1080/00224499.2014.983633
Gesselman AN, Webster GD, Garcia JR. Has virginity lost its virtue? Relationship stigma associated with being a sexually inexperienced adult. J Sex Res. 2017;54(2):202–13.
pubmed: 26983793
doi: 10.1080/00224499.2016.1144042
Landor AM, Simons LG. Correlates and predictors of virginity among heterosexual African American young adults. Sex Cult. 2019;23(3):943–61.
doi: 10.1007/s12119-019-09600-y
Yaşan A, Essizoglu A, Yildirim EA. Predictor factors associated with premarital sexual behaviors among university students in an Islamic culture. Int J Sex Health. 2009;21(3):145–52.
doi: 10.1080/19317610903113813
Cinthio H. “You go home and tell that to my dad!” conflicting claims and understandings on hymen and virginity. Sex Cult. 2015;19(1):172–89.
doi: 10.1007/s12119-014-9253-2
Benbrahim Z, Mekkaoui AE, Lahmidani N, Mellas N, Ismali Z. Gastric cancer: an epidemiological overview. Epidemiology (Sunnyvale). 2017;7(2):304.
doi: 10.4172/2161-1165.1000304
Mulumeoderhwa M. Virginity requirement versus sexually active young people: what girls and boys think about virginity in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo. Arch Sex Behav. 2018;47(3):565–75.
pubmed: 28879518
doi: 10.1007/s10508-017-1038-x
Chisale SS, Moyo H. Church discipline as virginity testing: shaping adolescent girls’ sexuality in the evangelical Lutheran churches in Africa. Altern J. 2016;23(2):89–104.
Smith TW, Son J. Trends in public attitudes about sexual morality. Chicago: NORC at the University of Chicago; 2013.
Twenge JM, Sherman RA, Wells BE. Changes in American adults’ sexual behavior and attitudes, 1972–2012. Arch Sex Behav. 2015;44(8):2273–85.
pubmed: 25940736
doi: 10.1007/s10508-015-0540-2
Earle JR, Perricone PJ, Davidson JK, Moore NB, Harris CT, Cotten SR. Premarital sexual attitudes and behavior at a religiously-affiliated university: two decades of change. Sex Cult. 2007;11(2):39–61.
doi: 10.1007/s12119-007-9001-y
Ayu SM, Sofiana L, Wibowo M, Gustina E, Setiawan A. Predisposing, enabling and reinforcing factors of premarital sex behavior in school adolescents. KEMAS. 2019;15(1):29–38.
doi: 10.15294/kemas.v15i1.14226
Nhan NTT, Phu PT, Tra PTT, Phuong PTA, Nhu NQ, Thu NT. Knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of premarital sex among bedsit-living students in Hue City, Vietnam. J Public Health Epidemiol. 2019;11(4):84–9.
doi: 10.5897/JPHE2018.1103
Dinh T-H, van Teijlingen E. Factors influencing engagement in premarital sex among Vietnamese young adults: a qualitative study. Int J Adolesc Med Health. 2021;33(4):20180201.
doi: 10.1515/ijamh-2018-0201
Majumdar C. Attitudes towards premarital sex in India: traditionalism and cultural change. Sex Cult. 2018;22(2):614–31.
doi: 10.1007/s12119-017-9486-y
Manalastas EJ, David CC. Valuation of women’s virginity in the Philippines. Asian Women. 2018;34(1):23–48.
doi: 10.14431/aw.2018.03.34.1.23
Teo HSY, Simon A. The perception of premarital sex among students in a religious moral-based university. Abstr Proc Int Sch Conf. 2019;7(1):1558–85.
Awwad J, Nassar A, Usta I, Shaya M, Younes Z, Ghazeeri G. Attitudes of Lebanese university students towards surgical hymen reconstruction. Arch Sex Behav. 2013;42(8):1627–35.
pubmed: 23979785
doi: 10.1007/s10508-013-0161-6
Rafizadeh M. Sexual politics in modern Iran. Gend Manag Int J. 2011;26(6):451–2.
doi: 10.1108/17542411111164939
Ghorashi Z. Teenage sexting and sexual behaviors in an Iranian setting. Sex Cult. 2019;23(4):1274–82.
doi: 10.1007/s12119-019-09622-6
Robatjazi M, Simbar M, Nahidi F, Gharehdaghi J, Emamhadi M, Vedadhir A-A, et al. Virginity testing beyond a medical examination. Global J Health Sci. 2016;8(7):152.
doi: 10.5539/gjhs.v8n7p152
Honarvar B, Salehi F, Barfi R, Asadi Z, Honarvar H, Odoomi N, et al. Attitudes toward and experience of singles with premarital sex: a population-based study in Shiraz, Southern Iran. Arch Sex Behav. 2016;45(2):395–402.
pubmed: 26334775
doi: 10.1007/s10508-015-0577-2
Zahedi R, Nasiri N, Zeinali M, Noroozi A, Hajebi A, Haghdoost A-A, et al. The prevalence and associated factors of extra/pre-marital sexual behaviors among university students in Kerman, Iran. Int J High Risk Behav Addict. 2019;8(1): e88266.
Mahmoodi M, Mirzaee M, Jahani Y, McFarland W, Sharifi H. Age and factors associated with first non-marital sex among Iranian youth. Sex Cult. 2020;24(3):532–42.
doi: 10.1007/s12119-019-09646-y
Khalajabadi Farahani F, Cleland J. Perceived norms of premarital heterosexual relationships and sexuality among female college students in Tehran. Cult Health Sex. 2015;17(6):700–17.
pubmed: 25587802
doi: 10.1080/13691058.2014.990515
Rahmani A, Merghati-Khoei E, Moghaddam-Banaem L, Hajizadeh E, Montazeri A. The viewpoints of sexually active single women about premarital sexual relationships: a qualitative study in the Iranian context. Int J High Risk Behav Addict. 2016;5(1): e23159.
pubmed: 27162757
pmcid: 4859938
doi: 10.5812/ijhrba.23159
Ahmadi A. Recreating virginity in Iran: hymenoplasty as a form of resistance. Med Anthropol Q. 2016;30(2):222–37.
pubmed: 25727323
doi: 10.1111/maq.12202
Kaivanara M. Virginity dilemma: re-creating virginity through hymenoplasty in Iran. Cult Health Sex. 2016;18(1):71–83.
pubmed: 26265283
doi: 10.1080/13691058.2015.1060532
Ahmadi A. Ethical issues in hymenoplasty: views from Tehran’s physicians. J Med Ethics. 2014;40(6):429–30.
pubmed: 23764547
doi: 10.1136/medethics-2013-101367
Farahani FK, Akhondi MM, Shirzad M, Azin A. HIV/STI risk-taking sexual Behaviours and risk perception among Male University students in Tehran: implications for HIV prevention among youth. J Biosoc Sci. 2018;50(1):86–101.
doi: 10.1017/S0021932017000049
Robatjazi M, Simbar M, Nahidi F, Gharedaghi J, Vedadhir A, Emamhadi MA, et al. Survey the concepts of virginity & its pathology. Sci J Forensic Med. 2017;23(1):25–36.
Azad Armaki T, Saei MS. Sociological explanation of anomic sexual relationships in Iran. J Fam Res. 2012;74:28.
Noroozi M, Effat-Al-Sadat Merghati Khoei F, Taleghani MT, Gholami A. How does a group of Iranian youth conceptualize their risky sexual experiences? Iran Red Crescent Med J. 2015;17(2): e18301.
pubmed: 25838931
pmcid: 4376993
doi: 10.5812/ircmj.18301
Motamedi M, Merghati-Khoei E, Shahbazi M, Rahimi-Naghani S, Salehi M, Karimi M, et al. Paradoxical attitudes toward premarital dating and sexual encounters in Tehran, Iran: a cross-sectional study. Reprod Health. 2016;13(1):1–10.
doi: 10.1186/s12978-016-0210-4
Adlipour MT, Afshar SA, Sohrabi A. Turk-speaking satellite networks and the ethnic identity of the youth in the city of Tabriz. Soc Sci Ferdowsi Univ Mashhad. 2016;13(1):7–49.
Khammarnia M, Setoodehzadeh F, Peyvand M, Setayesh AH, Rezaei K, KordTamini A, et al. Evaluation of integrated health system technology acceptance among the users of Health Centers of Zahedan University of Medical Sciences: Iran. Evid Based Health Policy Manag Econ. 2019;3(3):154–61.
Carpenter L. Virginity lost: an intimate portrait of first sexual experiences. New York: NYU Press; 2005.
Eriksson J, Humphreys T. Virginity beliefs scale. In: Handbook of sexuality-related measures. New York: Routledge; 2011. p. 638–9.
Uecker JE, Angotti N, Regnerus MD. Going most of the way: “technical virginity” among American adolescents. Soc Sci Res. 2008;37(4):1200–15.
pubmed: 19227698
pmcid: 3153128
doi: 10.1016/j.ssresearch.2007.09.006
Wilson KL, Smith ML, Menn M. Abstinence-related word associations and definitions of abstinence and virginity among Missouri High School Freshmen. J Sch Health. 2013;83(11):787–94.
pubmed: 24138349
doi: 10.1111/josh.12095
Awwad J, Nassar A, Usta I, Shaya M, Younes Z, Ghazeeri G. Attitudes of Lebanese university students towards surgical hymen reconstruction. Arch Sex Behav. 2013;42:1627–35.
pubmed: 23979785
doi: 10.1007/s10508-013-0161-6
Landor AM, Simons LG. Correlates and predictors of virginity among heterosexual African American young adults. Sex Cult. 2019;23:943–61.
doi: 10.1007/s12119-019-09600-y
Lipman CM, Moore AJ. Virginity and guilt differences between men and women. Butl J Undergrad Res. 2016;2(1):25.
Shirazi KK, Morowatisharifabad MA. Religiosity and determinants of safe sex in Iranian non-medical male students. J Relig Health. 2009;48:29–36.
pubmed: 19229622
doi: 10.1007/s10943-008-9174-1
Hojat M, Shariat SV, Ansari S. Iranian college students’ attitudes toward premarital sex, marriage, and family before and after the Islamic Revolution. Int J Sex Health. 2015;27(3):224–34.
doi: 10.1080/19317611.2014.957794
Motamedi M, Merghati-Khoei E, Shahbazi M, Rahimi-Naghani S, Salehi M, Karimi M, et al. Paradoxical attitudes toward premarital dating and sexual encounters in Tehran, Iran: a cross-sectional study. Reprod Health. 2016;13:1–10.
doi: 10.1186/s12978-016-0210-4
Molla M, Berhane Y, Lindtjørn B. Traditional values of virginity and sexual behavior in rural Ethiopian youth: results from a cross-sectional study. BMC Public Health. 2008;8:1–10.
doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-8-9
Arega WL, Zewale TA, Bogale KA. Premarital sexual practice and associated factors among high school youths in Debretabor town, South Gondar zone, North West Ethiopia, 2017. BMC Res Notes. 2019;12:1–7.
doi: 10.1186/s13104-019-4348-3
Khalajabadi-Farahani F, Månsson S-A, Cleland J. Engage in or refrain from? A qualitative exploration of premarital sexual relations among female college students in Tehran. J Sex Res. 2019;56(8):1009–22.
pubmed: 30557073
doi: 10.1080/00224499.2018.1546371
Rahmani A, Mezel JA, Allahqoli L, Fallahi A, Sadeghi N, Higgs P. Risky sexual behavior assessment scale for young women: development and psychometric assessment. Gend Sex Asia Pac. 2019;43:1–11.
Wiederman MW. The gendered nature of sexual scripts. Fam J. 2005;13(4):496–502.
doi: 10.1177/1066480705278729
Farahani FKA. Norms, attitude, and sexual conduct among female college students in Tehran: implications for reproductive health policy and research in Iran. PhD thesis, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. 2008.
Niki Rashidi F, Ghorashi Z, Esmaeilzadeh S. How do some Iranian grooms react if there is not any sign of blood stained bed sheets? Sex Cult. 2020;24(6):2056–64.
doi: 10.1007/s12119-020-09736-2
Jones SL, Hostler HR. Sexual script theory: an integrative exploration of the possibilities and limits of sexual self-definition. J Psychol Theol. 2002;30(2):120–30.
doi: 10.1177/009164710203000205
Machette AT, Montgomery-Vestecka G. Applying sexual scripts theory to sexual communication discrepancies. Commun Rep. 2023;36(2):123–35.
doi: 10.1080/08934215.2023.2175004
Farahani FK. Exposure to sexual explicit materials (pornography) in internet & cyber space and its influences on sexual behavior and interpersonal relationships among adolescents in Tehran. J Fam Res. 2019;15(1):127–53.
Taleghani F, Khoie ESM, Noroozi M, Tavakoli M, Gholami A. The role of mass media in Iranian youth’s premarital sexual relationships: a qualitative study. Int J Commut Based Nurs Midwifery. 2017;5(1):91.
Mehrolhassani MH, Yazdi-Feyzabadi V, Mirzaei S, Zolala F, Haghdoost A-A, Oroomiei N. The concept of virginity from the perspective of Iranian adolescents: a qualitative study. BMC Public Health. 2020;20(1):1–8.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-020-08873-5
Nazik F, Sönmez MO, Akben M. Gender, sexual experiences and sexual behavioral differences in Turkish university students. J Biosoc Sci. 2021;53(3):471–80.
pubmed: 32631460
doi: 10.1017/S002193202000036X