Aim: The aim was to investigate the associations between young people’s general health and sexual debut experiences in Thailand and Sweden.
Subjects and Methods: Data was derived from the Life & Health – Young People survey, conducted in 2014 in one province in Thailand and one province in Sweden. About 2,417 students who had experienced sexual debut were included (386 Thai students and 2,031 Swedish students).
Results: A majority of the students reported being in good general health (80.6% Thailand vs. 79.3% Sweden, p = 0.614) and had experienced their sexual debut at age 15 years or older (62.8% Thailand vs. 59.1% Sweden, p = 0.205). Fewer Thai students (39.6%) than Swedish students (71.1%) reported having consented to their sexual debut (p < 0.001). Adult support was strongly associated with good general health among the Thai students, both girls and boys. Among the Swedish students, good general health was associated with being a girl and with having used drugs, not feeling bad, and not having engaged in self-harming behaviour in the past 12 months. Age at sexual debut was not associated with general health in either country. Consensual sexual debut had a strong association with good general health among the Swedish students, but not the Thai students (aOR = 2.07).
Conclusion: Consensual sexual debut was associated with good general health among secondary school students. This finding is crucial for enabling policymakers, schoolteachers, midwives and health care providers to promote sexual and reproductive health among young people/adolescents.