Abstract

GRAJALES ATEHORTUA, Isabel Cristina  and  CARDONA ARANGO, Doris. Teenagers’ attitudes towards sexual and reproductive health. Medellin (Colombia). Invest. educ. enferm [online]. 2012, vol.30, n.1, pp.77-85. ISSN 0120-5307.

Objective. To identify attitudes towards fertility among teenagers. Methodology. Cross sectional descriptive study where 1178 teenagers between 12 and 18 years old participated. A survey with questions linked to fertility was applied. The research was carried out in the city of Medellin (Colombia) in 2009. Results. More than 60% of the teenagers have a favorable attitude towards sexual education, both at home as well as school. They consider sexual practices and the use of contraceptive methods make part of the human rights, and sex helps the development of the personality. 30% of the surveyed teenagers agreed abortion should be respected as a decision made by woman, and about 20% think having a child is the best way to keep their couple and show them their love. Teenagers recognized parents as an important source of information in topics related with fertility, as well as family communication about sexual and reproductive health, which has been documented as an important strategy to protect the teenagers. Conclusion. Teenagers attitudes towards sexual and reproductive health should be taken into account to define educational strategies in health to improve them.

Keywords : coitus; contraception; sexuality; fertility; attitude.

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