Prevention of sexually transmitted diseases in adolescents

Adolescencija je razdoblje razvoja i vrijeme odrastanja čovjeka. Označava prijelaz iz nezrelosti djetinjstva u zrelost odrasle dobi i uobičajeno traje između 15. i 20. godine života. U tom vremenskom razdoblju javlja se pojačan interes za osobe suprotnog spola te spolno aktivni adolescenti izloženi su riziku od spolno prenosivih bolesti. Neliječene spolno prenosive bolesti mogu rezultirati neplodnošću i za život opasnim komplikacijama. Rana i učestala spolna aktivnost adolescenata vezana je uz karakteristike osobe, obitelji, vršnjaka i obrazovanja, a dob prvog spolnog odnosa daje samo ograničenu sliku spolnog ponašanja adolescenata. S jedne strane, odrasli naglašavaju kako je spolni odnos u ranoj dobi i izvan braka loš, a s druge strane, šira socijalna okolina veliča uzbudljivost i romantičnost spolnog odnosa, te činjenice o spolnosti koje iznose mediji nisu uvijek istinite, a informacije koje daju nisu uvijek važne. Tako adolescenti ostaju zbunjeni, loše informirani o činjenicama vezanima uz spolni odnos i dobivaju manje razumnih savjeta o tome kako odgovorno voditi svoj spolni život. Prilikom izrade završnog rada provedeno je istraživanje u manjoj skupini adolescenata određenog područja. Cilj istraživanja je bio ispitati razlike u stavovima i znanju o seksualnim navikama i ponašanju učenika srednje medicinske škole i srednje škole za šumarske tehničare. Istraživanje je provedeno putem strukturiranog upitnika. Sudjelovalo je 100 ispitanika, od kojih je 50% ispitanika muškog spola i 50% ispitanika ženskog spola. Navedeni rezultati upućuju da su djevojke u manjoj mjeri sklone rizičnom ponašanju, te imaju veću razinu znanja u odnosu na mladiće. Mlađi ispitanici su skloniji seksualno rizičnijem ponašanju i imaju manju razinu znanja u odnosu na starije ispitanike, a učenici srednje medicinske škole imaju veću razinu znanja i manje rizično seksualno ponašanje u odnosu na učenike srednje škole za šumarske tehničare.Adolescence is a period of development and a part of growing up. It marks the transition from the immaturity of childhood to the mature adult age which usually lasts between the ages of 15 to 20 years old. In that period there is an increase in interest towards the opposite sex and sexually active adolescents are at risk of a sexually transmitted disease. Untreated sexually transmitted diseases can result in infertility and some life threatening complications. Early and frequent sexual activity of adolescents is related to the characteristics of a person, its family and peers, education and the age of the first sexual encounter gives us only a limited image of the sexual behavior of adolescents. On one side, adults emphasize that sexual intercourse out of wedlock is bad while on the other side, social environment glorifies the excitement and romance of sexual intercourse, facts about sexuality in the media are not always true and the information they give are not always important. In this way adolescents are confused, badly informed about the facts related to sexual intercourse and they get less reasonable advice on how to responsibly lead their sexual life. While making of the final paper, there was a research conducted on a small group of adolescents of a certain area. The goal of this research was to investigate differences in attitudes and knowledge about sexual habits and behavior of students in the high school for forestry technicians and in the high school for nurses. The research was conducted with a structured questionnaire and there were a 100 participants, 50% female and 50% male. Listed results point to the fact that girls are prone to risky behavior to a lesser degree than boys and they have more knowledge of the matter. Younger participants are prone to risky behavior in a greater extent unlike older participants and participants of the high school for nurses have more knowledge and are prone to risky behavior in a lesser extent than the participants of the forestry technicians’ high school