A study on stress, depression and suicidal ideation according to sexual behaviours among Korean adolescents

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine stress, depression and suicidal ideation in Korean adolescents according to their sexual behaviours, such as experience of sexual intercourse, time of first sexual intercourse, and sexual intercourse after alcohol drinking. Methods: This study was conducted as a secondary data analysis using the raw data of the 9th Korea Youth Risk Behaviour Web-based Survey (KYRBWS-IX) conducted in 2013. The survey sampled 75,149 secondary school students, and 72,435 of them were included in this analysis. Results: Stress level, depression and suicidal ideation were significantly higher in adolescents with experience of sexual intercourse than in those without it. Adolescents with experience of sexual intercourse after drinking had a 1.415 times higher odds ratio depression than those without it. When the time of first sexual intercourse was delayed by one year, the odds of stress increased by 1.022 times and the odds of suicidal ideation increased by 1.014 times. Conclusions: Adolescents with experience of sexual intercourse showed significantly higher stress, depression and suicidal ideation, the latter of which was particularly higher among low-grade female students that had experienced first sexual intercourse at a young age. Suicidal ideation was more common when first sexual intercourse was early. Adolescents with experience of sexual intercourse after drinking showed higher stress, depression and suicidal ideation than those without drinking.