Religion and Sexual Initiation in Brazil

Increasing adolescent fertility and declining age at first sexual intercourse have been accompanied by a transformation in Brazil’s religious landscape, signaled by the significant growth of Protestantism, and Pentecostalism in particular. Using data from the 2006 Brazil Demographic Health Survey (PNDS-DHS), we examine the associations between religion, as measured by religious affiliation and religious attendance, and unmarried adolescent sexual initiation in Brazil. Findings reveal that even after controlling for demographic, socioeconomic, and community variables, unmarried adolescent women’s sexual initiation differs across religious affiliation and attendance patterns in Brazil: those who belong to traditional Protestant or Pentecostal churches, as well as those that attend church frequently, are at lower risk of engaging in sexual activity. Together with available ethnographic evidence, the results suggest that Pentecostalism and church attendance may both directly and indirectly shape unmarried adolescent women’s sexual decision-making in Brazil. Draft: March 3 rd , 2009 Ana Paula de Andrade Verona The University of Texas at Austin Graduate Student, Department of Sociology Trainee at the Population Research Center anapaula@prc.utexas.edu Mark Regnerus The University of Texas at Austin Assistant Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology regnerus@prc.utexas.edu