This study examines ethnic differences in the age at first sexual intercourse in Ghana. Analysing data from Ghana’s 2014 Demographic and Health Survey, we use ordinary least squares (OLS) regression to examine how ethnicity is associated with the age at sexual debut, net of socio-economic and demographic characteristics. The results show that the patrilineal Mande, Grusi and Mole-Dagbani ethnic groups initiate sex at a later age than all of the other patrilineal groups and also than the majority matrilineal Akans. However, there are no significant differences in the age at first sexual intercourse between the patrilineal Ga Dangme, Ewe, Guan and Gurma ethnic groups compared to the Akans, once we control for socio-demographic characteristics. The results also indicate that for the Mande, Grusi and Mole-Dagbani groups, gender moderates the association between ethnicity and age at first sexual intercourse. The potential reasons for these ethnic group differences are explored.

中文翻译：

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加纳第一次性交时的种族和年龄

这项研究调查了加纳第一次性交年龄的种族差异。分析来自加纳 2014 年人口与健康调查的数据，我们使用普通最小二乘法 (OLS) 回归来检查种族与首次性行为年龄的关系，扣除社会经济和人口特征。结果表明，父系曼德族、格鲁西族和莫尔-达巴尼族群开始性行为的年龄比所有其他父系族群以及大多数母系阿肯人都要晚。然而，一旦我们控制了社会人口特征，与阿肯人相比，父系嘎当美、母羊、关和古尔玛族群之间的第一次性交年龄没有显着差异。结果还表明，对于 Mande、Grusi 和 Mole-Dagbani 组，性别在第一次性交时调节种族和年龄之间的关联。探讨了这些族群差异的潜在原因。