Information and attitudes about HIV/AIDS in Portuguese adolescents: state of art and changes in a four year period.

The incidence of infection with HIV/AIDS among the heterosexual population has been increasing in young adults. The goal of this research was to deepen knowledge of preventive sexual behavior in Portuguese adolescents, including knowledge and attitudes about HIV/AIDS, and assessing whether they changed from 2002 to 2006. Data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire from the Portuguese sample of the Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC), a collaborative WHO study. The study provides national representative data of 7093 Portuguese adolescents, randomly chosen from those attending 8th and 10th grade of high school. Results showed there was an increase in the age of first sexual intercourse and a decrease in the number of teenagers who reported having had sexual intercourse, also in the level of information regarding HIV/AIDS transmission/prevention and in positive attitudes towards people with HIV/AIDS. In general, adolescents have good knowledge about how to protect themselves from becoming infected. However, comparing to 2002, there was a reduction of knowledge and consequent increase in the doubts regarding HIV/AIDS. Given the incipient state of sex education in 2006, the results cannot be attributed to sex education, but they will be relevant for comparison with the 2010 HBSC results.

Percepções de professores portugueses sobre educação sexual / Perceptions of Portuguese teachers about sex education / Percepciones de profesores portugueses sobre educación sexual

OBJETIVO: Avaliar percepções e atitudes em relação à educação sexual entre professores portugueses do ensino básico e secundário. MÉTODOS: Participaram do estudo 371 professores de ambos os sexos, do segundo e terceiro ciclos e do ensino secundário do continente Português, entre Fevereiro e Março de 2006. A coleta de dados foi feita por meio de questionário, pela técnica bola de neve, constituído por duas partes; a primeira abordava dados sociodemográficos, caracterização profissional, crenças religiosas, formação e experiência em educação sexual em meio escolar. A segunda parte foi composta por escalas relativas a atitudes, importância atribuída a temas de educação sexual e nível de ensino para introduzir tópicos de educação sexual. A análise das diferenças entre géneros, entre professores com e sem experiência em educação sexual, e entre professores com e sem formação complementar na área foi efectuada pela análise de variância ANOVA. RESULTADOS: Os professores, no geral, revelaram quer atitude quer importância médias/altas em relação à educação sexual. Imagem corporal foi o único tópico que deveria ser introduzido no primeiro ciclo. As professoras [F(1;366)=7,772; p=0,006] por oposição aos professores, os professores com formação em educação sexual [F(1;351)=8,030; p=0,005], por oposição aos que não têm formação, e os com experiência em educação sexual em meio escolar [F(1;356)=30,836; p=0,000], por oposição aos sem experiência, revelaram uma atitude mais positiva em relação à educação sexual (M=39,5; 40,4; 41,3; respectivamente). Somente professores com mais formação atribuíram mais importância à educação sexual [F(1;351)=5,436;p=0,020] e as professoras propuseram introdução da educação sexual mais cedo [F(1;370)=5,412; p=0,021]. CONCLUSÕES: Os professores no geral são favoráveis à educação sexual em meio escolar. O fato de a maioria dos tópicos ficarem reservados para os segundo e terceiro ciclos pode não ser adequado, pois a educação...

OBJECTIVE: To assess perceptions and attitudes regarding sex education among middle and high school teachers in Portugal. METHODS: A study comprising 371 middle and high school teachers, both female and male, was conducted in Portugal in February and March 2006. Data was collected through snowball technique. The questionnaire was made up of two parts: the first collected data on demographics, career, religious background and training and experience in sex education; the second part presented three measures related to sex education, one assessed attitudes, another importance given to sex education, and the third the grade at which respondents believed sex education topics should be taught. The analysis of differences between gender, trained and untrained teachers in sex education, and experienced and non-experienced teachers in teaching sex education was carried out using ANOVA. RESULTS: Overall, teachers showed a fairly straightforward attitude towards sex education and assessed it as moderately/highly important. Body image was found to be the only topic that should be introduced in the 5th and 6th grades. Female teachers [F(1;366)=7.772;p=.006], trained teachers [F(1;351)=8.030; p=.005] and experienced teachers in teaching sex education [F(1;356)=30.836;p=.000] showed a more positive attitude towards sex education (M=39.5; 40.4; 41.3; respectively). Only trained teachers assessed its teaching as highly important [F(1;351)=5.436;p=.020]; and female teachers believed it should be introduced earlier [F(1;370)=5.412;p=0.021]. CONCLUSIONS: In general, teachers favor sex education in school. The fact that most topics of sex education are only taught in the 5th-6th or 7th-9th grades may have serious consequences since sex education has to be introduced before students engage in sexual behaviors.

OBJETIVO: Evaluar percepciones y actitudes en relación a la educación sexual entre profesores portugueses de enseñanza básica y secundaria. MÉTODOS: Participaron del estudio 371 profesores de ambos sexos, del segundo y tercer ciclo y de la enseñanza secundario del continente Portugués, entre Febrero y Marzo de 2006. La colecta de datos fue hecha por medio de cuestionario, por la técnica bola de nieve, constituido por dos partes; la primera abordaba datos sociodemográficos, caracterización profesional, creencias religiosas, formación y experiencia en educación sexual en medio escolar. La segunda parte fue compuesta por escalas relativas a actitudes, importancia atribuida a temas de educación sexual y nivel de enseñanza para introducir tópicos de educación sexual. La análisis de las diferencias entre géneros, entre profesores con y sin experiencia en educación sexual, y entre profesores con y sin formación complementaria en el área fue efectuada por la análisis de variancia ANOVA. RESULTADOS: Los profesores, en general, revelaron actitud y importancia medias/altas en relación a la educación sexual. Imagen corporal fue el único tópico que debería ser introducido en el primer ciclo. Las profesoras [F (1; 366)=7,772; p=0,006] por oposición a los profesores, los profesores con formación en educación sexual [F (1; 351)=8,030; p=0,005], por oposición a los que no tienen formación, y los con experiencia en educación sexual en medio escolar [F (1; 356)=30,836; p=0,000], por oposición a los sin experiencia, revelaron una actitud más positiva en relación a la educación sexual (M=39,5; 40,4; 41,3; respectivamente). Solamente profesores con más formación atribuyeron más importancia a la educación sexual [F (1; 351)=5,436; p=0,020] y las profesoras propusieron introducción de la educación sexual mas temprano [F (1; 370)=5,412; p=0,021]. CONCLUSIONES: Los profesores en general son favorables a la educación sexual en medio escolar. El hecho de que la...

[Perceptions of Portuguese teachers about sex education]. / Percepções de professores portugueses sobre educação sexual.

OBJECTIVE: To assess perceptions and attitudes regarding sex education among middle and high school teachers in Portugal. METHODS: A study comprising 371 middle and high school teachers, both female and male, was conducted in Portugal in February and March 2006. Data was collected through snowball technique. The questionnaire was made up of two parts: the first collected data on demographics, career, religious background and training and experience in sex education; the second part presented three measures related to sex education, one assessed attitudes, another importance given to sex education, and the third the grade at which respondents believed sex education topics should be taught. The analysis of differences between gender, trained and untrained teachers in sex education, and experienced and non-experienced teachers in teaching sex education was carried out using ANOVA. RESULTS: Overall, teachers showed a fairly straightforward attitude towards sex education and assessed it as moderately/highly important. Body image was found to be the only topic that should be introduced in the 5th and 6th grades. Female teachers [F(1;366)=7.772;p=.006], trained teachers [F(1;351)=8.030; p=.005] and experienced teachers in teaching sex education [F(1;356)=30.836;p=.000] showed a more positive attitude towards sex education (M=39.5; 40.4; 41.3; respectively). Only trained teachers assessed its teaching as highly important [F(1;351)=5.436;p=.020]; and female teachers believed it should be introduced earlier [F(1;370)=5.412;p=0.021]. CONCLUSIONS: In general, teachers favor sex education in school. The fact that most topics of sex education are only taught in the 5th-6th or 7th-9th grades may have serious consequences since sex education has to be introduced before students engage in sexual behaviors.