Correlates and Determinants of Reproductive Behavior among Female University Students in Tehran

Background: This paper aims to examine the reproductive health and behaviors which might expose young people at risks of STIs/HIV and potential correlates of such behaviors among female college students in Tehran. Methods: This paper focuses on the study conducted on a sample of 1743 female undergraduate students in four multidisciplinary universities in Tehran during 2005− 2006 using a two-stage stratified cluster sampling. The main focus was to determine the predictors of premarital heterosexual reproductive behavior among female stu-dents. Results: The mean age of the unmarried students was 21.4 years. Low self-efficacy (OR=7.87, p <0.001), perceived peers ' liberal attitude on virginity (OR = 4.33), perception of parents ' liberal attitude towards relationship with the opposite sex and poor family atmosphere (OR=3.04 and 2.20, p <0.001, respectively) were predictors of ever having any type of sexual experience after controlling for other factors. The only predictors of penetrative sex remained in the logistic model were older ag