Abstract:
Understanding the uptake and patterns of sexual
partnerships of adolescent males reveals their risky
behaviors that could persist into adulthood. Using venuebased
sampling, we surveyed 671 male youth ages 15–19
from an urban Tanzanian neighborhood about their sexual
partnerships during the past 6 months. The proportion of
males who had ever had sex increased with age (21 % at
age 15; 70 % at age 17; 94 % at age 19), as did the proportion
who engaged in concurrency (5 % at age 15; 28 %
at age 17; 44 % at age 19). Attendance at C2 social venues
per day and meeting a sexual partner at a venue was
associated with concurrency. Concurrency was associated
with alcohol consumption before sex among 18–19 year
olds and with not being in school among 15–17 year olds.
We find that concurrency becomes normative over male
adolescence. Venue-based sampling may reach youth vulnerable
to developing risky sexual partnership patterns.
