ADOLESCENT STUDENTS' ATTITUDES TOWARDS SEXUALITY: THE CONSTRUCTION AND VALIDATION OF A SCALE

• Main Authors: Teresa Madalena Kraus Brincheiro Hüttel Barros (Author), Sónia Isabel Horta Salvo Moreira de Almeida Ramalho (Author), Clementina Maria Gomes de Oliveira Gordo (Author), João Manuel Graça Frade (Author), Alexandra Luz (Author), Pascoal Moleiro (Author), Maria dos Anjos Coelho Rodrigues Dixe (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: Sociedade de Pediatria de São Paulo, 2020-11-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.

Summary

ABSTRACT Objective: To construct a scale of adolescents' attitudes towards sexuality and to determine their psychometric characteristics. Methods: Methodological study conducted with 394 students from the 8th to 12th grades of a school in central Portugal. They answered a questionnaire consisting of the Adolescent Students' Attitude Scale for Sexuality (E3AS) and socio-demographic and academic data. The project received a favorable opinion from the National Data Protection Commission (authorization No. 10421/2017). Construct validity analysis was performed through exploratory factor analysis and internal consistency was performed through Cronbach's alpha. A maximum error probability of 5% was considered. Results: The mean age of the sample was 14.9±1.4 years, with 53.3% being female. The instrument consisted of 34 items distributed into five factors: F1. Family planning and sex education (α=0.826); F2. First sexual relationship (α=0.819); F3. Violation of sexual rights and who to turn to in the event of unplanned pregnancies (α=0.695); F4. Gender expression and identity (α=0.542), and F5. Unplanned pregnancy and parenting (α= 0.761), with a total alpha value of 0.766, accounting for 45.3% of total variance. Conclusions: The psychometric adequacy of the E3AS for the Portuguese population allows us to affirm that it is a valid and reliable instrument that can be used in future studies to assess the attitudes of adolescent students towards sexuality.

Item Description

1984-0462
10.1590/1984-0462/2021/39/2019372