Chinese adolescents' sexual and reproductive health education: A quasi-experimental study.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the effectiveness of an interactive sexual and reproductive health education program in aspects of knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy among adolescents. DESIGN: Quasi-experimental study underpinned by social cognitive theory. SAMPLE A stratified cluster sample of 469 students from the two-branch middle school in a city in eastern China who were assigned to the experimental (n = 233) and control (n = 236) groups. MEASUREMENTS Students' sexual knowledge, attitudes, and refusal self-efficacy were assessed before (T0), immediately after (T1), and 1 month after the intervention (T2), respectively. INTERVENTION Students in the experimental group received two 40-min sessions of the educational program while the control group received the usual mode of sexual and reproductive health education. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, students in the experimental group acquired more sexual knowledge (p < .01), and developed more positive sexual attitudes (p < .05) and stronger sexual self-efficacy (p < .05) across the study period. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed sexual and reproductive health education program incorporating various interactive activities was effective and could be used for school-based implementation led by nurses and other health care workers.