Risk and Protective Factors of Substance Use and Premarital Sex among Asian Youth

Minja K. Choe, East West Center

This paper examines levels of smoking, drinking, and premarital sex, and their covariates among youth aged 15-24 in Indonesia, Nepal, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Thailand, using large-scale national Youth Surveys. The levels of substance among youth is very high in these societies, although the pattern of what substance is most commonly used varies from society to society. The prevalence of premarital sex is high among male youth except in Indonesia but low among female youth except in Taiwan. Five sets of variables are examined as potential risk and protective factors: community characteristics, parents¡¯ characteristics and indicators of respondents¡¯ relationships to their parents; individual level variables including religiosity, educational aspiration, and variables indicating self-esteem; indicators of stages of transition to adulthood; and respondent¡¯s other risk taking behavior. We use discrete-time hazard models using person-ages as units of analysis and initiation of drinking, smoking, or premarital sex as dependent variables.