Proportions and unadjusted odds ratios of respondents aged 17–24 years at interview who were not sexually competent at first sex, by explanatory variables.
| Explanatory variables | Men | 95% CI | OR | 95% CI | P value* | N (unweighted/ weighted) | Women | 95% CI | OR | 95% CI | P value* | N (unweighted/ weighted) |
| % | % | |||||||||||
| IMD quintile | ||||||||||||
| 1: Least deprived | 27.7 | 21.5 to 34.8 | 1 | <0.001 | 216/158 | 43.9 | 38.0 to 50.0 | 1 | 0.008 | 263/152 | ||
| 2 | 38.9 | 32.3 to 45.9 | 1.66 | 1.07 to 2.57 | 233/177 | 49.0 | 42.6 to 55.5 | 1.23 | 0.86 to 1.75 | 280/157 | ||
| 3 | 40.4 | 33.7 to 47.6 | 1.77 | 1.14 to 2.77 | 231/164 | 46.3 | 39.9 to 52.8 | 1.10 | 0.78 to 1.56 | 283/170 | ||
| 4 | 52.7 | 45.2 to 60.0 | 2.91 | 1.85 to 4.55 | 258/213 | 58.4 | 52.6 to 64.0 | 1.79 | 1.28 to 2.52 | 339/195 | ||
| 5: Most deprived | 53.5 | 47.0 to 59.9 | 3.00 | 1.97 to 4.59 | 283/197 | 57.6 | 51.9 to 63.1 | 1.73 | 1.24 to 2.42 | 398/204 | ||
| Education level of respondent | ||||||||||||
| Left school at 17+ years | 37.3 | 33.3 to 41.5 | 1 | <0.001 | 718/550 | 46.3 | 42.8 to 49.8 | 1 | <0.001 | 930/550 | ||
| Left school at 16 years with qualifications | 51.2 | 45.6 to 56.6 | 1.76 | 1.33 to 2.33 | 382/262 | 59.2 | 54.1 to 64.1 | 1.68 | 1.31 to 2.16 | 479/245 | ||
| Left school at 16 years with no qualifications | 65.4 | 53.8 to 75.4 | 3.17 | 1.89 to 5.30 | 89/66 | 70.3 | 60.0 to 78.8 | 2.74 | 1.71 to 4.40 | 116/55 | ||
| Ethnic group | ||||||||||||
| White | 42.4 | 39.1 to 45.8 | 1 | 0.143 | 1094/802 | 50.1 | 47.3 to 53.0 | 1 | 0.020 | 1396/768 | ||
| Mixed | 64.6 | 46.7 to 79.2 | 2.47 | 1.16 to 5.26 | 38/27 | 64.2 | 50.8 to 75.7 | 1.79 | 1.02 to 3.12 | 65/36 | ||
| Asian | 48.4 | 32.5 to 64.6 | 1.27 | 0.65 to 2.50 | 43/40 | 45.7 | 29.1 to 63.3 | 0.84 | 0.40 to 1.74 | 38/27 | ||
| Black | 43.8 | 26.0 to 63.2 | 1.06 | 0.47 to 2.36 | 32/27 | 76.5 | 59.2 to 87.9 | 3.24 | 1.44 to 7.28 | 42/33 | ||
| Chinese and ’other' | 57.2 | 29.3 to 81.2 | 1.81 | 0.56 to 5.82 | 14/13 | 55.2 | 31.6 to 76.7 | 1.23 | 0.46 to 3.27 | 20/14 | ||
| Family structure | <0.001 | |||||||||||
| Both parents | 41.3 | 37.3 to 45.4 | 1 | 0.027 | 816/643 | 47.6 | 44.0 to 51.2 | 1 | 928/555 | |||
| One/neither parent | 49.2 | 43.7 to 54.7 | 1.38 | 1.04 to 1.83 | 405/265 | 58.6 | 54.3 to 62.8 | 1.56 | 1.25 to 1.96 | 634/322 | ||
| Main source of information about sexual matters | ||||||||||||
| Lessons at school | 40.2 | 34.6 to 46.1 | 1 | 0.502 | 412/310 | 46.3 | 41.8 to 50.8 | 1 | 0.023 | 567/322 | ||
| Mother or father | 47.8 | 36.5 to 59.2 | 1.36 | 0.81 to 2.29 | 92/72 | 52.0 | 45.1 to 58.8 | 1.26 | 0.90 to 1.75 | 236/129 | ||
| Friends | 45.5 | 39.5 to 51.6 | 1.24 | 0.89 to 1.73 | 314/227 | 55.9 | 50.7 to 61.1 | 1.47 | 1.11 to 1.95 | 420/230 | ||
| Other | 44.6 | 39.4 to 50.0 | 1.20 | 0.87 to 1.65 | 396/295 | 55.5 | 49.5 to 61.4 | 1.45 | 1.07 to 1.95 | 335/194 | ||
| Ease discussing sex with parents at age 14 years | ||||||||||||
| Easy with one/both | 42.8 | 36.2 to 49.6 | 1 | 0.300 | 312/241 | 46.9 | 42.1 to 51.8 | 1 | 0.051 | 501/284 | ||
| Difficult | 52.0 | 40.0 to 63.7 | 1.45 | 0.83 to 2.53 | 87/71 | 55.3 | 45.4 to 64.9 | 1.40 | 0.90 to 2.20 | 132/78 | ||
| Didn’t discuss with either | 42.6 | 38.8 to 46.6 | 0.99 | 0.72 to 1.36 | 759/550 | 53.8 | 50.0 to 57.5 | 1.32 | 1.03 to 1.68 | 821/465 | ||
| Varied depending on topic | 31.5 | 16.9 to 50.9 | 0.61 | 0.26 to 1.44 | 29/25 | 40.9 | 28.2 to 54.9 | 0.78 | 0.43 to 1.43 | 59/31 | ||
| Sex before age 16 years | ||||||||||||
| No | 37.0 | 32.9 to 41.2 | 1 | <0.001 | 749/574 | 43.2 | 39.6 to 46.8 | 1 | <0.001 | 962/575 | ||
| Yes | 55.0 | 49.9 to 60.0 | 2.08 | 1.58 to 2.74 | 472/334 | 67.8 | 63.5 to 71.9 | 2.78 | 2.17 to 3.55 | 601/304 | ||
| Relationship with first sexual partner | ||||||||||||
| Steady relationship | 34.2 | 30.0 to 38.7 | 1 | <0.001 | 574/436 | 39.8 | 36.3 to 43.3 | 1 | <0.001 | 968/545 | ||
| Just/recently met for first time | 61.3 | 53.5 to 68.5 | 3.04 | 2.12 to 4.37 | 207/152 | 77.3 | 67.5 to 84.8 | 5.15 | 3.07 to 8.64 | 129/78 | ||
| Known each other a while, not in steady relationship | 47.8 | 42.4 to 53.3 | 1.76 | 1.32 to 2.36 | 394/286 | 73.4 | 68.2 to 78.1 | 4.19 | 3.12 to 5.63 | 384/207 | ||
| Used to be in steady relationship | 52.2 | 35.9 to 68.1 | 2.10 | 1.06 to 4.18 | 44/33 | 64.9 | 48.8 to 78.2 | 2.80 | 1.42 to 5.54 | 61/34.61 | ||
| Married/living together | – | – | – | – | – | 2/1 | 16.2 | 4.9, 42.5 | 0.29 | 0.08 to 1.13 | 20/13 | |
| Partner’s first time too | ||||||||||||
| Yes, partner’s first time | 37.1 | 32.9 to 41.5 | 1 | <0.001 | 577/434 | 41.6 | 37.2 to 46.0 | 1 | <0.001 | 573/318 | ||
| Think it was first time | 52.8 | 37.1 to 68.0 | 1.90 | 0.97 to 3.70 | 50/43 | 72.1 | 55.4 to 84.3 | 3.63 | 1.71 to 7.72 | 43/24 | ||
| Think it was not first time | 59.5 | 47.8 to 70.2 | 2.49 | 1.51 to 4.12 | 94/69 | 66.9 | 55.2 to 76.9 | 2.85 | 1.70 to 4.78 | 82/49 | ||
| No, not first time | 46.0 | 40.7 to 51.3 | 1.44 | 1.09 to 1.91 | 444/325 | 55.9 | 52.1 to 59.7 | 1.79 | 1.41 to 2.27 | 825/466 | ||
| Age difference between respondent and first sex partner | ||||||||||||
| Same age | 40.2 | 36.0 to 44.5 | 1 | <0.001 | 718/535 | 45.6 | 41.0 to 50.2 | 1 | 0.005 | 551/314 | ||
| Partner younger than respondent | 38.6 | 31.3 to 46.5 | 0.94 | 0.64 to 1.36 | 211/168 | 56.6 | 41.6 to 70.4 | 1.56 | 0.83 to 2.92 | 54/31 | ||
| Respondent younger than partner | 56.4 | 49.8 to 62.8 | 1.92 | 1.41 to 2.63 | 286/203 | 55.0 | 51.5 to 58.5 | 1.46 | 1.16 to 1.85 | 956/532 | ||
*Wald test.
CI, confidence interval; IMD, Index of Multiple Deprivation; OR, odds ratio.