Role of gender in sexual behaviours and response to education in sexually transmitted infections in 17-year-old adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: to investigate gender differences in high school students with respect to sexual risk behaviours, and their perceptions of the effect of an educational programme on sexually transmitted infections (STIs). In addition, this study aimed to investigate differences between students in programmes preparing for university compared with vocational programmes. PARTICIPANTS, SETTING AND DESIGN: second-year high school adolescents from two communities in south-west Sweden were invited to participate in the study, and completed a questionnaire on sexual experience, sexual risk behaviours and the impact of the educational programme on STIs. FINDINGS: males took less responsibility for STI prevention than females. Furthermore, males perceived themselves to be less influenced by the STI education than females. Females had more experience of same-sex sexuality than males. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: males take less responsibility for STI prevention than females. When planning STI education, it is important to consider gender, traditions and various learning styles. If STI education fails to reach males, the prevalence of these infections will continue to increase.

Transition to puberty as experienced by 12-year-old Swedish girls.

The purpose of this study was to describe 12-year-old girls' experiences of entering puberty. A qualitative approach was used to gather data from focus group interviews, and content analysis was used to identify common themes from the responses of 18 girls. Findings revealed four main themes: (a) growing up--awareness, bodily changes, longing; (b) mother--a close and important relationship; (c) menarche--a personal and important occurrence; and (d) sex and relationships. Girls sought understanding for their feelings and thoughts during this transition period. Mothers were important to be close at hand and provide understanding. When entering menarche, the girls felt a greater need for integrity. They strongly experienced their sexuality physically and had many questions about sex and their physical changes. They longed to discuss these issues and learn more about sex but stated adults had failed them in this regard because the adults believed the girls were too young for this information. School nurses have opportunities to meet the needs of girls during the transition to puberty.

Attitudes and feelings towards menstruation and womanhood in girls at menarche.

AIM: To elucidate early adolescent girls' attitudes, thoughts and feelings towards menstruation and their bodies. METHODS: 309 12-y-old girls answered questionnaires. One part of the questionnaire dealt with thoughts and feelings towards menstruation. The other part dealt with thoughts and feelings towards menstruation and sex and ability to communicate on aspects of womanhood. RESULTS: Postmenarcheal girls were less positive towards menstruation than premenarcheal girls (p = 1 x 10(-6)). Many girls (43%) did not reaffirm the statement "I like my body" and almost one quarter stated being teased for their appearance. Many of the girls claimed that they had been called "cunt" (38%) or "whore" (46%). If called "cunt" or "whore", 17% stated that they felt alone, 76% felt anger and 50% were offended. Mothers were those with whom girls could most easily "chat" about their period. Sixty-seven per cent received information about menstruation from school nurses. CONCLUSION: Wanting to be an adult and liking that their body develops seem to be associated with a more positive feeling towards menstruation. Furthermore, mothers' timing and ability to communicate attitudes towards menstruation and the body are as important as those in a girl's immediate environment.

Improving pre- and postmenarcheal 12-year-old girls' attitudes toward menstruation.

Adolescence is a time of rapid changes, including risk for unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. Education may improve understanding and attitudes toward menstruation among adolescents thus increasing their awareness of risks and enabling them to protect themselves accordingly. To investigate effects of education on attitudes, two interventions were compared in 345 12-year-old girls. The new, active intervention given to premenarcheal girls just before menarche resulted in improvements in attitudes toward menstruation compared with standard intervention. Thus, just before menarche girls should be offered education modeled after the active intervention. The education must be concrete and based on multisensory learning.