Youth Sexual Behaviors and Counselling in Chon Buri Province

Abstract

            Inappropriate sexual behaviors of adolescents bear the risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections including HIV/AIDS and unwanted pregnancies. The purpose of the cross-sectional survey on a sample of 1240 respondents aged 10-24 years, on sexual health in Chon Buri among youths by multi-stage random sampling. It was found that sex education was given informally by their teachers (63.6%) and formally as part of the schoolsี curriculum. In that connection, they learned about physical change (82.5%), reproductive sexual health (72.9%) and sexual transmitted infections (67.9%). The subjects could adapt and applied certain knowledge such as condom use into practice (71.1%). Most of them (95.6%) did not realize that not only blood examination could be used to identify HIV/AIDS. The mean age of first sexual intercourse was (n = 252) 17.37, SD 2.43 (9-24) years and their sexual partners mean age was 18.93, SD 4.48 (7-55) years. Appropriate counseling service model about sexual health should be private for individual by a health team. Sexuality education and reproductive health care service provision should be strengthened. Sex literacy should be promoted in Thai society to desensitize the sexual issues.

Key words: sexual behavior youth, counselling fertility health