Conhecimentos sobre sexualidade: Construção e validação de um instrumento de avaliação para adolescentes em contexto escolar

Abstract

Knowledge, as a factor that exerts influence on attitudes, is a fundamental prerequisite in prevention programs of risky sexual behaviours. The aim of this study was to develop an instrument that would assess the knowledge that adolescents have about sexuality. The Knowledge about Sexuality Questionnaire assesses the knowledge in a difficulty continuum and also the distinction of students with different levels of knowledge. The sample was composed by 1545 adolescents with a mean age of 16 years (SD=1.80) that attend school. The results show that girls are more informed than boys, and that Portuguese adolescents older than 15, without religion, with more than 5 years of sexual education in school and having their mothers as sexual educators are the ones with more knowledge about sexuality. The attitudes of the adolescents towards the use of condom are associated with the knowledge they have about it and the adolescents that used condom in their last sexual relation reveal higher levels of knowledge.