Premium
Teenage Awareness of Family Planning Matters
Author(s) -
Neuendorff Desmond J.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
australian journal of social issues
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.417
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1839-4655
pISSN - 0157-6321
DOI - 10.1002/j.1839-4655.1986.tb00814.x
Subject(s) - project commissioning , psychology , likert scale , publishing , sex education , family planning , developmental psychology , social psychology , demography , sociology , political science , research methodology , population , law
Despite the rhetoric surrounding the adequacy of existing sex education/or young persons, little attempt has been made by local researchers to quantify teenage sexual awareness. While previous researchers have used Likert‐type inventories to quantify sexual knowledge indirectly, the ‘perceived adequacy’ approach does not provide a realistic basis for evaluating sexual awareness. A 24‐item multiple choice Sexual Knowledge Inventory was therefore developed by the author and administered in group form to 447 teenagers sampled from six private schools in the Brisbane Statistical Division. Data indicated that the family unit has failed to provide many young persons with reliable information about family planning matters. Multiple regression analysis revealed exposure to a formal school‐based sex education program to be the most powerful predictor of awareness, with birth order, family size and social status background also emerging as significant predictors of family planning knowledge.