ABSTRACT

Background: The adolescents’ reproductive organs function begins to be active and develops during this phase. It will elicit adolescents’ curiosity about sexuality that can impact their behavior. One of them is sexual behavior. Because adolescents’ risky sexual behavior hurts health, it is crucial to study sexual behavior further. This study aimed to determine adolescents’ sexual behavior using the Theory of Planned Behavior.
Subjects and Method: This observational analytic study with a cross-sectional design was conducted in Malang in September 2021. A total of 300 adolescents aged 15-24 years old was selected by simple random sampling. The dependent variable was adolescents’ sexual behavior. The independent variables were attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and intention. The data were collected by questionnaire and analyzed by multiple logistic regression.
Results: Adolescents’ sexual behavior has correlation with positive attitude (OR= 1.80; 95% CI = 1.09 to 2.97; p = 0.022), supportive subjective norm (OR= 2.75; 95% CI = 1.66 to 4.55; p<0.001), strong perceived behavioral control (OR= 2.45; 95% CI = 1.48 to 4.08; p = 0.001), and strong intention (OR= 2.06; 95% CI = 1.25 to 3.39; p = 0.005).
Conclusion: There was a significant relationship between positive attitude, supportive subjective norm, strong perceived behavioral control, and strong intention with adolescents’ sexual behavior.

Keywords: adolescents, sexual behavior, theory of planned behavior