Abstract:
Purpose:
This study sought to assess whether risky sexual behaviors and sexual exploitation of
orphaned adolescents differed between family-based and institutional care environments in Uasin
Gishu County, Kenya.
Methods:
We analyzed baseline data from a cohort of orphaned adolescents aged 10
e
18 years
living in 300 randomly selected households and 19 charitable children
’
s institutions. The primary
outcomes were having ever had consensual sex, number of sex partners, transactional sex, and
forced sex. Multivariate logistic regression compared these between participants in institutional
care and family-based care while adjusting for age, sex, orphan status, importance of religion,
caregiver support and supervision, school attendance, and alcohol and drug use.
Results:
This analysis included 1,365 participants aged
10 years: 712 (52%) living in institutional
environments and 653 (48%) in family-based care. Participants in institutional care were signi
fi
-
cantly less likely to report engaging in transactional sex (adjusted odds ratio, .46; 95% con
fi
dence
interval, .3
e
.72) or to have experienced forced sex (adjusted odds ratio, .57; 95% con
fi
dence
interval, .38
e
.88) when controlling for age, sex, and orphan status. These associations remained
when adjusting for additional variables