The Effectiveness of Sexual Skills Training on Sexual Knowledge, Attitude, and High-risk Sexual Behavior among First-Grade Secondary School Adolescent Girls in Tehran

Learning sexual skills can effectively affect the health of the individual and society. However, sexual education in Iran has been neglected to a great extent. Therefore, this research was conducted to determine the effectiveness of sexual skills training on the knowledge, attitude, and high-risk sexual behavior of adolescent girls.

The research was semi-experimental with a pre-test, post-test, and control group. All the female students in the first-grade secondary school of Tehran in the academic year of 2022 formed the statistical population of the research. Thirty people were selected by available sampling and divided into experimental (15 people) and control (15 people) groups. They completed the sexual knowledge/attitude questionnaire (Besharet et al., 2013) and the high-risk sexual behavior questionnaire (Zarei et al., 2015). In the experimental group, sex education was implemented in 8 sessions (1 session of 90 minutes per week), but the control group did not receive this education. Data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA).

The results showed a significant change in sexual knowledge (F=44.56, p=0.004, η=0.60) and attitude (F=9.32, p=0.013, η=0.57) between the experimental and control groups from the pre-test to the post-test; as a result of the intervention, the sexual knowledge and attitude in the experimental group improved (p>0.05). Also, there was a significant change in the score of high-risk sexual behaviors between the subjects of the two groups from the pre-test to the post-test; as a result of the intervention, the high-risk sexual behaviors of the experimental group were decreased (F=15.26, p=0.009, η=0.61).

According to the results of the research, sexual skills training can be used as a key intervention in preventing sexual behavior.