Religious Practices and Determinants of Dating Relationship in

Uhamka Faculty of Health Sciences Students, Jakarta

Sarah Handayani

, Izza Suraya

and Elia Ayunin

Study Programme of Public Health: Faculty of Health Science, Universitas Muhammadiyah Prof. Dr. HAMKA, South

Jakarta, Indonesia

Keywords: students, religious practices, dating relationship

Abstract: Adolescence is a transition period before an individual achieving his marital status. For university students,

it is a time when they are no longer under direct parental supervision. Religion can be seen as a social

determinant of health, but it has less scientific evidence. This study aims to identify the association between

sociodemographic variables, religiosity, academic performance, and attitudes with dating relationship. This

study used cross-sectional study. The population included the first-year students of the academic year

2017/2018 of Public Health Study Program Faculty of Health Sciences, Universitas Muhammadiyah Prof.

Dr. (UHAMKA). The sample was taken by total sampling technique. The samples included 166 first-year

students of the Public Health Study Program Faculty of Health Sciences students in the age range of 17 to

26 years (M age 19; SD = 1.3). A Heath Behavior Questionnaire was administered. The result indicated that

students who have high religious scores tend to avoid dating. The most dominant factor for dating

relationship is sex (OR =2,9; 95% CI 1,1 – 7,6).

1 INTRODUCTION

Freshmen students are those who are in the first

year at the university. At that period of transition

according to psychological development, they

assume some adult roles and responsibility as

different from when they were in high school. As

university students, they are in a new environment,

including academic system and social life (Peltzer,

Malaka, & Phaswana, 2002).

Many recent studies show a profound ignorance

of religion, apart from the fact that knowledge about

religious practices is essential for human flourishing

in this multi-religious world. Religious literacy is a

current skills in social determinant of public health

(Ellen L Idler, 2014). Further analysis of the data of

Indonesian Demographic Health Survey (IDHS)

2012 showed that 19% of unmarried adolescent male

aged 15-24 years were in a relationship when the

survey was conducted and they experienced

premarital sex. The reasons were mostly curiosity

(55%) and another was by incident (25%). 92% of

them did it with their girlfriend. In terms of location,

they did it at boarding house (23%) or couple’s

house (21%) (Handayani & Huriah, 2016).

The number of teenagers who have premarital

sex in Indonesia is increasing, and the upward trend

can be seen in the last five years of 2007-2012 on

the IDHS, where premarital sexual behavior at the

youth level was 8.3 per cent of the total teenagers

surveyed (BKKBN, 2012). A survey in Semarang

which involved 1,355 respondents, who were high

school and vocational students, revealed 392

students or 28.92 per cent agreed to have sex before

marriage. A study conducted in Denpasar, Bali,

showed that as many as 4.26% claimed had

premarital sex with their partner in the past year

(1.44% girls and 3, 19% boys) (Yuni; Adi; Siswanto,

2013).

Premarital sexual behavior is still a moral,

psychological, and physical debate. In fact, a high

number of sexually active teenagers were found in

United States. The national data in America shows

that 46% of early high school adolescents are

sexually active; the numbers are increasing in the

Handayani, S., Suraya, I. and Ayunin, E.

Religious Practices and Determinants of Dating Relationship in Uhamka Faculty of Health Sciences Students, Jakarta.

DOI: 10.5220/0008378200520055

In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Social Determinants of Health (ICSDH 2018), pages 52-55

ISBN: 978-989-758-362-9

final high school period, which is 62%. The increase

in the number of teenagers who have premarital sex

was discovered since the 80s. National data on male

adolescents showed that one-third of young men

have sex at the age of 15 years (BKKBN, 2012).

Although a lot number of studies have been

published about multiple health risk behaviors

among community college students, community

colleges are underutilized in health behavior

research (Pokhrel, 2004). Some theories of

adolescent development are the basis which

strengthens the hypothesis of the alleged factors of

premarital sexual behavior. The emergence of

serious issues concerning the factors of risk behavior

in adolescents reinforced the theory. Furthermore,

the perspective of adolescent development became

the basis of the importance of the theory of factors,

individuals, and the environment in premarital

sexual behavior (Busseri, M. A., Willoughby, T.,

Chalmers, H., & Bogaert, 2008)

UHAMKA, one of universities under the Islamic

Mass Organization in Indonesia, implements and

teaches Islamic value in the academic system.

UHAMKA carries out the vision of Muhammadiyah,

namely "Towards True Islam." One way to achieve

that is by applying the teaching of Islam and

Kemuhammadiyahan (AIK) courses as part of the

all-academic subjects, including muamalah (Arifin,

2015). In Islam, sex before marriage (zina) was

forbidden. Based on the principle of muamalah in

Islam, the dating-relationship is included in one of

the behaviors that are at risk of zina (Fajri,

Muhammad Dwi; Rasjyid, 2017). This background

is the basis for researchers to see the extent to which

religious practice lessons relate to the dating

relationship of student in UHAMKA.

Hypothesis: Independent factors (sex, academic

performance, attitude, and religious practice) are

significantly related with dating relationship.

2 SUBJECTS AND METHODS

The focus of this study is on the religious

practices and determinant factors of dating

relationship of public health study program

UHAMKA University. The data were obtained from

a survey using Health-Behavior Questionnaire. The

population of this study included students of the

public health study program at the Faculty of Health

Sciences University of Muhammadiyah Prof. Dr

HAMKA. The sample was taken using total

sampling technique. All members of the population,

as many as 166 students, who meet the inclusion and

exclusion criteria, were included in the study. The

inclusion criteria recorded were the freshmen

students of Public Health Study Program

UHAMKA. Those who were unwilling to become

respondents were excluded from the population — a

letter of approval obtained from the student after

being explained the purpose and method of research.

The data analysis was carried out using Stata

software for univariate, bivariate, and multivariate.

Univariate analysis was performed to display the

frequency of each variable and bivariate analysis

using chi-square to compare the observed frequency

and the frequency of expectations. Besides, bivariate

analysis was also carried out with the prevalence of

ratio risk analysis to compare the relationship

between the independent variable and the dependent

variable. The logistic regression conducted to find

the most dominant independent variable.

Measures

Data pertaining to prevalence and frequency of

dating relationship were obtained from A Heath

Behavior Questionnaire, including four items on

basic sociodemographic data: sex, academic

performances, religious practices, and attitudes.

Dating relationship was measured with a question:

(1) have you ever been and have a boy/girlfriend?

(1: yes, 2:no).

Religious practice was measured through three

questions: (1) How important is religion to you? (1:

very important, 2: important, 3: not important), 2) In

the last six month, how often do you attend religious

courses (1: once a week, 2: 2-3 in a month, 3: once

in a month; 4: never) 3) In the last six month, how

often do you come the mosque? (1: once a week, 2:

2-3 in a month, 3: once in a month; 4: never).

Academic performance was measured by one self-

rating item on "What is the last cumulative academic

achievement score” (1=>3, 2<3).

3 RESULTS

Of the total, 84 (50.6%) said that they had a

dating relationship. Only 54 (32.53%) of the

students admitted that they achieve high score for

their religious practice. Most of the students had a

high academic performance and twenty-seven

(16.27%) are male. From all of the respondents, only

66 (39,76%) have negative attitude. Table 1 explains

the students’ characteristic.

Religious Practices and Determinants of Dating Relationship in Uhamka Faculty of Health Sciences Students, Jakarta

Table 1. Respondent Characteristic and Dating

Relationship (n=166)

Variable n %

Sex

Male 27 16,27

Female 139 83,73

Academic

Performance

Middle – low < 3 47 28,31

High >= 3 119 71,69

Religious

practice

Low (score <14) 112 67,47

High (score >=14) 54 32,53

Attitudes

Negative 66 39,76

Positive 100 60,24

Dating

relationship

Yes 84 50,6

No 82 49,4

The results of multi-variate analysis showed that

the most dominant factor for dating relationship is

sex (OR =2,9; 95% CI 1,1 – 7,6). Table 2 explained

logistic regression.

Table 2. Logistic Regression

Variables OR Std

Err

95% CI

Min Max

Sex 2.95 1.42 1.15 7.57

Academic performance 1.41 0.52 0.68 2.90

Religious practice 1.10 0.38 0.56 2.15

Attitudes 1.10 0.41 0.54 2.27

4 DISCUSSION

The current study showed that religious practice

prevents students from dating relationship. Religion

often takes a fundamental role in people’s health,

and for those, this starts even before an individual

can consider their belief system. However, even if

one is ambivalent about religion, the chances are

high that religion influences one’s life, even as a

way of life (Barmania, Sima; Reiss, 2018). Religious

values have clearly forbidden dating behaviour. The

standard of behaviour among boys and girl is

described in detail in the muamalah and ibadah

lessons. In Islam it is called adab (manner) (Fajri,

Muhammad Dwi; Rasjyid, 2017).

Indonesia is one of the nations in South East

Asia with mostly Muslim population, where people

practice their faith along with the local values

(Barmania, Sima; Reiss, 2018). Cultures about

dating relationships are also influenced by Islamic

values. Unfortunately, in Indonesia, information

related to reproductive health is still much contested

by religion and education, so it has not been

included in the education curriculum. IDHS surveys

showed that dating relationship is a risk factor for

the rate of unwanted pregnancies in adolescents.

Male students have a higher proportion to have

dating relationships compared to women.

Furthermore, similar result was found in the

IDHS. Knowledge of healthy relationship in dating

is essential to prevent adolescents from any risks

that might occur (Handayani & Huriah, 2016). The

information can be included into AIK lessons for

students, but the content should be adjusted to the

adolescent development (Arifin, 2015).

With the limitations of the study, only one study

program in one among seven campuses was included

in the sample. Therefore, the findings cannot be

generalized across UHAMKA. Substantial variation

in a dating relationship in this university could help

planners more clearly distinguish the service needs

to the various subgroups within the population.

Furthermore, in this study, the variables of dating

behaviour are not explored

further so they

cannot describe the risk behaviour of the

students.

5 CONCLUSION

In conclusion, religious practices prevent

students from dating behavior, of which the most

dominant factor is sex. Further studies on the dating

behavior of the students should be conducted with

bigger sample sizes. It is recommended for the

institution to update the content of Islamic lectures

and adjust the materials with the adolescent’s

development. Male students should be engaged more

in the discussion than female to prevent them from

any other risky sexual behaviors. The teaching of

AIK needs to be updated and in line with the

advance of technology as well as the needs of

adolescents.

ICSDH 2018 - International Conference on Social Determinants of Health

ACKNOWLEDMENTS

Our gratitude is sent to Centre of Research and

Development Universitas Muhammadiyah Prof Dr.

HAMKA (UHAMKA) who funded this study.

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Religious Practices and Determinants of Dating Relationship in Uhamka Faculty of Health Sciences Students, Jakarta