Relationship between childhood sexual abuse and attitudes toward premarital sexual permissiveness among middle school students in Luzhou, China

In recent years, the number of adolescents engaging in premarital sex has increased, and an increasing number of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) cases have been reported in China. Many studies have indicated that CSA has a well-established association with risky sexual activities. However, only a limited number of studies have explored possible reasons for this association among middle school students, a population that may engage in premarital sex, which is critical for the development of interventions to prevent risky sexual behavior. Based on random samples of middle school students from a Chinese city, this article investigated the relationship between CSA and students' premarital sexual permissiveness (PSP). In a cross-sectional study conducted between 2016 and 2017 in Luzhou, China, 2292 middle school and high school students aged 12-18 years were recruited by multistage random sampling. All students were administered anonymous questionnaires. Multiple linear regression and binary logistic regression analyses were conducted to analyze the relationship between CSA and PSP. The prevalence of CSA was 15.4% (354/2292; 95% CI: 14-16.9%). A higher percentage of male respondents (18.2%) than female respondents (12.9%) had experienced CSA. A positive association between CSA and PSP was found among students. Respondents who had suffered CSA exhibited greater PSP, and this relationship was observed in the male sample, female sample and the total student sample in Luzhou (β = - 3.76, P