Vol.:(0123456789) Sexuality & Culture https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-020-09768-8 1 3 ORIGINAL PAPER Prevalence and Determinants of Premarital Sex Among University Students of Bangladesh Md. Akter Hossen 1  · Abul Hasnat Golam Quddus 1 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020 Abstract This was a cross-sectional study having two main objectives: frst, to fnd out the present trend of premarital intercourse among university students and, second, to identify the factors associated with it. The study was conducted using mixed meth- ods: a sample survey and in-depth interviews. A total of 610 samples were randomly drawn from 20 out of 42 departments of a public university. The sample units were the undergraduate and graduate students. Sixteen in-depth interviews were con- ducted with the fnal year students. A mailed questionnaire was used for the sur- vey and an interview guide for the in-depth interviews. SPSS statistical package was used for survey data processing. Univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analysis were performed for the survey data while thematic analysis was used for qualita- tive ones. About 30% of the total sampled students have had premarital intercourse experience. When percentages are calculated separately for male (336) and female (274) students, premarital intercourses were found 36% and 21% among male and female students, respectively. The intercourse partners are primarily boy/girlfriends. Other partners are married persons, relatives, sex workers, maidservants, rapers, and teachers. The primary motive of premarital intercourse, as stated by students, has been to seek pleasure not out of love. The multiple logistic regression has identi- fed four factors that are uniquely associated with the occurrence of premarital inter- course among students, which are watching pornography, followed by knowledge of contraceptives, willingness to marry lovers, and peer pressure. Keywords Premarital intercourse · Peer pressure · Watching pornography · Boy/ girlfriend · Student · Premarital sex * Md. Akter Hossen akterhossen@cu.ac.bd Abul Hasnat Golam Quddus ahquddus@yahoo.com 1 Department of Sociology, University of Chittagong, Chittagong, Bangladesh