With about one quarter of new human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections occuring in young people, there is an on-going debate regarding the role of social capital on youth sexual behaviour. Some studies have suggested that high levels of family and community social capital may act as protective factors that lessen the likelihood of negative consequences; while others have concluded that social capital may be a risk factor for risky sexual behaviour among youth. Using data from the Third National Communications Survey (2012) conducted in South Africa, we examined the relationship between perceptions of social capital and youth sexual behaviour measured by age at first sex and condom use among 3 399 males and females (aged between 16 and 24 years). We assessed community perceptions of social capital with questions that measured trust, social participation, and support. The Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to predict the risk for early sexual debut. Logistic regression was used to predict the odds of condom use. There was no association between perceptions of social capital and youth sexual behaviour. This work reveals that youth sexual behaviour in South Africa may be influenced by socio-economic characteristics, especially at the individual level.

中文翻译：

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南非青年对社会资本和性行为的认识。

年轻人中大约有四分之一的新的人类免疫缺陷病毒（HIV）感染发生，关于社会资本在青年性行为中的作用的争论一直在持续。一些研究表明，高水平的家庭和社区社会资本可以作为保护性因素，减少负面影响的可能性；而另一些人则得出结论，社会资本可能是青少年进行危险性行为的危险因素。使用在南非进行的第三次国家传播调查（2012）的数据，我们研究了3 399名男性和女性（年龄在16至24岁之间）中按初次性行为年龄和使用避孕套衡量的社会资本观念与青年性行为之间的关系。年）。我们通过衡量信任度的问题评估了社区对社会资本的看法，社会参与和支持。使用Cox比例风险回归模型来预测早期性行为首次亮相的风险。Logistic回归用于预测使用安全套的几率。社会资本观念与青年性行为之间没有关联。这项工作表明，南非的青年性行为可能受到社会经济特征的影响，尤其是在个人层面上。