Journal of Population Sciences
Table 1 Dependent variables and covariates included in multinomial and binary logistic regression models
From: The “dating game”: age differences at first sex of college students in Italy
Variable | Definition |
|---|---|
Dependent variables | |
Type of age discordant first sex relationships (3 categories) | Categorical. Same age partner (reference category): if the partner was less than 2 years older or younger than respondent. Younger partner: if the partner was two or more years younger than respondent. Older partner: if the partner was two or more years older than respondent. |
Type of age discordant first sex relationships (2 categories) | Binary. Same age/younger partner (reference category): if the partner was less than 2 years older or younger and if the partner was two or more years younger than respondent. Older partner: if the partner was two or more years older than respondent. |
Independent variables | |
Key variables | |
Gender | Dummy. Coded 1 for female students and 0 for male students. |
Type of relationship with first sex partner | Categorical. Coded 1 for those having their first sexual experience with a stranger (reference category), 2 for those which had first sex with friends, and 3 for those whose first sex partner was the own boy/girlfriend. |
Age at sexual debut | Categorical. Coded 1 (early debut) if the student has had first sex 1 year or more before the mean age at first sex of the distribution, 2 (mean debut), if the student has had first sex 1 year earlier or 1 year later than the mean, and 3 (late debut) if age at first sex was at least 1 year older than the mean (see mean age values in the descriptive results section). |
Control variables | |
Characteristics related to the family of origin | |
Dual earner family | Dummy. Coded 1 for students whose parents were both working at age 14-15 and 0 for those who lived on a single earning family. |
Type of emotional relationship with father | Dummy. Coded 1 for students having a balanced relationship with father at age 14-18 and 0 otherwise. |
Type of emotional relationship with mother | Dummy. Coded 1 for students having a balanced relationship with mother at age 14-18 and 0 otherwise. |
Proxies of meeting places | |
Older brother | Dummy. Coded 1 for students having at least one older brother (older male sibling) and 0 for those without older brothers. |
Working regularly | Dummy. Coded 1 for students regularly working and 0 for those in other working situations (including not working). |
At-risk behaviors | |
Frequent smoker | Dummy. Coded 1 for students who smoke frequently (daily smokers) at age 14-15 and 0 otherwise. |
Drunkenness | Dummy. Coded 1 for college students who get drunk frequently by the time of the survey and 0 otherwise. |