Rural High School Students’ Sexual Behavior and Self-Esteem

Abstract

Background: Negative consequences for sexual health may be caused by risky sexual behavior related to attitudes, norms and self-efficacy regarding sexuality. Research has not resulted in a consensus on the associations between self-esteem and adolescents' sexual behavior. Aims and Objectives: The aim of the study was to describe high school students' sexual behavior and self-esteem, along with investigating the relationship of attitudes, norms, self-efficacy, and self-esteem to sexual risk behavior. Another aim was to describe and compare gender differences in self-esteem and sexual risk behavior in high school students in a rural context. Methodological Design: A crosssectional design was used. The participants were 139 high school students, 16 to 18 years of age, sample size was decided by power calculation, and systematic randomized sampling was used. The students replied to a questionnaire about self-esteem, factors affecting sexual risk behavior, and sexual behavior. Results: Swedish high school students reported having few sexual partners, a low use of alcohol along with sex, yet a low consistency in condom use. The students reported both high basic self-esteem as well as earned self-esteem. Basic self-esteem was higher for male students while earned self-esteem was higher for female students. Significant correlations were found between self-esteem and some factors affecting sexual risk behavior related to condom use. Conclusion: High school students exhibited positive sexual behaviors and high levels of selfesteem, yet they put themselves at risk by inconsistent use of condoms. Our findings can contribute the need of to an awareness of the role self-esteem, attitudes, norms and self-efficacy plays in adolescents' sexual behavior. Nurses working at the youth clinics are in a key position to discuss sexual health issues with adolescents to promote healthy outcomes in sexual health.

Social Ecological Predictors of Risky Sexual Behavior Among Young Adults

“…At the individual level, no relationship was found between self-esteem and risky sexual behaviors, which is consistent with some of the literature (Rivers et al, 2013). As pointed out at the outset, findings regarding self-esteem and risky sexual behavior are conflicting, with positive, negative and null associations reported (Ganczak et al, 2017;Unis et al, 2015). A possible explanation for null findings may be the use of global as opposed to facet-specific self-esteem.…”

“…Selfesteem refers to confidence in one's own worth or abilities. Results regarding the relationship between the level of self-esteem and the probability of engaging in high-risk sexual behaviors are conflicting, with authors reporting associations that are negative (Ganczak, Czubińska, Korzeń, & Szych, 2017), positive (Unis, Johansson, & Sällström, 2015) and null (Rivers et al, 2013). Risktaking can be defined as engaging in behaviors that are high in subjective desirability or excitement but that carry the potential for injury or loss (Geier, Terwilliger, Teslovich, Velanova, & Luna, 2010).…”

Adolescents’ conceptions of learning and education about sex and relationships

“…Although self-esteem and self-efficacy are good inner resources to possess, they do not always prevent risky behavior. This was seen in a study (Unis, Johansson, & S€ allstr€ om, 2015), which showed that adolescents' use of condoms was low despite good self-efficacy in condom use. Critical thinking and practical skills are ways to empower adolescents to make informed decisions regarding their sexuality (Macintyre et al, 2015).…”

Effect of integrated reproductive health lesson materials in a problem-based pedagogy on soft skills for safe sexual behaviour among adolescents: A school-based randomized controlled trial in Tanzania

“…The level of item retention was set at >0.8 to establish the content validity index. Thus, any item not meeting the specified requirement was dropped for further required modifications [ 38 – 40 ].…”

“…The questionnaires were then pretested among 240 adolescents to determine a Cronbach’s Alpha for their internal consistency reliability. Exploratory factor analysis was first performed for data reduction to get high weighed items above the suggested statistical thresholds (>0.3) as recommended by authors from previous studies [ 38 – 40 ].…”