Quality of sexual education received in the school context and its association with sexual behaviors in Chilean adolescents, according to data from the VIII National Youth Survey

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the quality of the sexual education received in the school context and its association with sexual behaviors in Chilean adolescents. Methods: Cross-sectional and analytical study. The sample corresponded to adolescents of both sexes from 15 to 19 years old, it was obtained from a database with national representation. The quality of the sexual education received in the school context was evaluated as good, regular and bad. Descriptive and association analysis were performed between the variables. OR (Odds ratio) and RRR (Relative-risk ratios) adjusted for sex, age in completed years, socioeconomic group and area were calculated. Results: The sample corresponded to 1,049 sexually active adolescents, of these, 21.83% corresponded to the group with bad “Evaluation”, 44.16% with regular “Evaluation” and 34.01% with good “Evaluation”. The ratio among adolescents who did not use a condom in the last sexual relationship versus those who used a condom is 1.64 times higher in adolescents with a poor evaluation of sexual education received (OR: 1.64; 95% CI: 1.01 - 2.68). The ratio among adolescents who had two or more sexual partners in the last year versus those who had neither or one, is 2.15 times higher in adolescents with poor evaluation of sexual education received (OR: 2.15; 95% CI: 1.30 - 3.56). Conclusion: The participants of this study evaluate the sexual education received mostly as regular, with an association with sexual behaviors. It is important to conduct in-depth studies that allow us to know why adolescents evaluate the sexual education received in the school system as regular only.