Sexual health literacy among Slovenian secondary school students : a descriptive study

Šporin, Marta (author), Kamenšek, Tina (author), Milavec Kapun, Marija (author)

Introduction: Sexuality education for adolescents is an important area of education. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge of Slovenian upper secondary school students about sexuality, as well as their experiences, behaviours, and sources of information about sexuality. Methods: An invitation to complete an online questionnaire for first-year students was sent to all secondary schools in central Slovenia. The responses of 201 participants were included in the analysis. The average age of the respondents was 15.59 years; 57% of the participants were female and 67% attended general upper secondary school. The data were statistically analysed using chi-square, Mann-Whitney U, and t-test.Results: Respondents cited the internet (67.0%) and friends (60.4%) as the most common sources of information on sexuality. Most respondents expressed a preference for seeking information from healthcare professionals (61.2%) and least from teachers (26.5%). Sexual experiences involving vaginal penetration were found to be more frequent among students enrolled in vocational and technical education programmes than those attending general upper secondary education programmes (χ2 = 7.863, p = 0.005). Knowledge about sexuality was found to differ by gender (U = 2257.500, p = 0.003) and type of secondary school (U = 1943.500, p = 0.001). Knowledge about sexuality was positively associated with the frequency of discussions about various sex-related topics, with the exception of petting. It was, however, not associated with sexual activity or the use of protection.Discussion and conclusion: More attention needs to be paid to the provision of sexuality education for secondary school students. School nurses can promote information sharing among peers, empower parents to engage in discussions on these topics with their adolescent children, and provide sexuality education in the school setting. Our study findings on the effectiveness of different forms and contents of sexuality education can serve as a basis for enhancing the existing preventive programmes.

• Language: English
• Keywords: sex education, adolescents, sexual health, contraception, sexually transmitted infections
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: ZF - Faculty of Health Sciences
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Publication date: 15.06.2024
• Year: 2024
• Number of pages: Str. 88-104
• Numbering: Letn. 58, št. 2
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-159140
• UDC: 614
• ISSN on article: 1318-2951
• DOI: 10.14528/snr.2024.58.2.3202
• COBISS.SI-ID: 198996995
• Publication date in RUL: 02.07.2024

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Obzornik zdravstvene nege : strokovno glasilo Zveze društev medicinskih sester in zdravstvenih tehnikov Slovenije
• Shortened title: Obzor. zdrav. neg.
• Publisher: Zbornica zdravstvene nege
• ISSN: 1318-2951
• COBISS.SI-ID: 39433728

Licences

• License: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
• Description: The most restrictive Creative Commons license. This only allows people to download and share the work for no commercial gain and for no other purposes.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Spolna zdravstvena pismenost slovenskih srednješolcev : opisna raziskava

Abstract

Uvod: Spolna vzgoja mladostnikov je v šolah pomembno področje izobraževanja. Namen raziskave je bil oceniti znanje o spolnosti, izkušnje, vedenje in vire informacij o spolnosti med slovenskimi dijaki.Metode: Uporabljen je bil spletni vprašalnik, poslan na vse srednje šole v osrednjeslovenski regiji, s povabilom dijakom prvih letnikov. V analizo so bili vključeni odgovori 201 anketiranca. Sodelujoči so bili v povprečju stari 15,59 let, 57 % ženskega spola in 67 % jih je bilo gimnazijcev. Podatki so bili statistično analizirani s testi hi-kvadrat, Mann-Whitneyjevim U-testom in t-testom.Rezultati: Najpogostejši viri informacij o spolnosti za dijake so splet (67,0 %) in prijatelji (60,4 %). Večina dijakov želi informacije pridobiti od zdravstvenih delavcev (61,2 %) in najmanj od učiteljev (26,5 %). Spolna izkušnja z vaginalno penetracijo je pri dijakih/-njah srednjih in poklicnih srednjih šol pogostejša v primerjavi z gimnazijci/-kami (χ2= 7,863, p = 0,005). Znanje o spolnosti se razlikuje glede na spol (U = 2257,500, p = 0,003) in vrsto srednješolskega izobraževanja (U = 1943,500, p = 0,001). Znanje o spolnosti je pozitivno povezano s količino pogovora o različnih temah o spolnosti, razen o božanju. Ni pa povezano s spolno aktivnostjo in uporabo zaščite.Diskusija in zaključek: Pomembno je, da se več pozornosti nameni spolni vzgoji srednješolcev. Medicinske sestre v šolskem okolju lahko spodbujajo medvrstniško informiranje, opolnomočajo starše za pogovor z mladostniki in izvajajo spolno vzgojo. Rezultati raziskav o učinkovitosti različnih oblik in vsebin spolne vzgoje so lahko osnova za nadgradnjo preventivnih programov.

• Keywords: spolna vzgoja, mladostniki, spolno zdravje, kontracepcija, spolno prenosljive okužbe