Reproductive Health Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Among Adolescents Attending Secondary Schools in Asmara, Eritrea

Background: Adolescent reproductive health problems are a great threat to adolescent’s warfare and such problems are associated with inadequate knowledge. In Eritrea, as adolescent reproductive health is not given much attention the knowledge is expected to be poor, which could lead adolescents to become victims of adolescence related reproductive health problems and limit their opportunity to build a better future. Therefore, this study was carried out with the aim of investigating the reproductive health knowledge, attitude and practice among secondary school students in Asmara, the capital of Eritrea. Methods: A cross sectional study design was conducted on 428 adolescent high school students with the age range of 14 to 19 years. Sample size was determined by using a single population proportion formula. Initially, population size of each school and each grade was taken and proportional sample size was determined from each school and then from each grade. The list of students was used and participants were selected using simple random sampling. Data was collected through a structured self-administered questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential analysis were made using SPSS (version 22). Statistical significance level was set at P<0.005.Results: The median age of the study participants was 15 (IQR=2), in which 88.8% were between age of 14 to 16 years with 53% of them being females. The level of knowledge of the students regarding RH was low, with moderate to good attitude. Sexual practice was very low (3.5%) with usage of 86.7% of contraceptive use. Meanwhile, the usage of sexually explicit material was relatively higher (53%). Conclusions: Reproductive health knowledge was low almost in all variables. Meanwhile, significant number of students are already engaged in heterosexual romantic relationships and use of sexually explicit material. Adolescents need to be knowledgeable about themselves and the people they relate to, need sound information about the physical, psychological and social changes that take place through childhood to adolescence.

Does size matter? Genital self-image, genital size, pornography use and openness towards cosmetic genital surgery in 3662 Swedish men and women

This cross-sectional study investigated the distribution and characteristics of genial self-image in a large sample of males and females, and whether factors such as actual genial size (length of penis or protrusion of labia minora), consumption of sexually explicit material (SEM) or avoidance and safety seeking behaviors were associated with genital self-image. Overall, 3.6% of females and 5.5% of males suffered from a severely low genital self-image and 33.8% of all individuals reported dissatisfaction with the appearance of their genitalia, with 13.7% of females and 11.3% of males being positive towards undergoing cosmetic genital surgery. Mean protrusion of labia minora and stretched flaccid penis length in the population was estimated to 0.76 cm (95% CI 0.63-0.89 cm) and 12.5 cm (95% CI 12.33-12.76 cm), respectively. A better genital self-image was associated with having a larger penis or less protruding labia minora, but not associated with the degree of SEM consumption, although 93.6% of males and 57.5% of females had consumed SEM in the past three months. Avoidance and safety seeking behaviors were strongly correlated with a negative genital self-image. Considering this relationship, more research is warranted in the development of potential psychological interventions in order to alleviate genital dissatisfaction in individuals.

Pornography as a US Public Health Problem

Pornography is being indicted as a public health crisis in the United States and elsewhere, but the professional public health community is not behind the recent push to address pornography as a public health threat. While pornography may not be contributing directly to mortality or acute morbidity for a substantial percentage of people, it may be influencing other public health problems, such as sexual violence, dating abuse, compulsive behavior, and sexually transmitted infections. However, the evidence to support pornography as a causal factor is mixed, and there are numerous other factors that have more strongly established associations with these outcomes of interest. Throughout history, repressive forces have inflated the charges against sexually explicit material in order to advance a morality-based agenda. Nevertheless, a public health approach and tried public health practices, such as harm reduction and coalition-building, will be instrumental to addressing the emergence of mainstream Internet pornography.

Pornography and Aggression

This chapter reviews the results of ecological time-series studies, experimental studies, case-control studies, and meta-analyses of the relationship between pornography viewing and aggression perpetration. Antisocial personality characteristics can increase the risk that a subset of pornography viewers will engage in sexually aggressive behavior subsequent to pornography exposure. Public health professionals may be invited to play a role in policy decision-making that balances the public’s right to sexually explicit material against the risk that some viewers may be activated by viewing violent-looking pornography.

Enhanced Self-Control for the Prevention of Pornography of Student in Senior High School

The lack of students' self-control led to the emergence of pornography. The phenomenon of pornography is a general term that refers to sexually explicit material that may be softcore or hardcore and can also be referred to as things that attempt to stimulate and increase sex drive with text and images. Self-control is the ability to organize, guide, regulate, and direct forms of behavior that can lead to positive consequences. The purpose of this study was to describe students' self-control at SMA N 1 Merbau. This research uses descriptive analysis. The research sample consisted of 128 students who were taken using purposive sampling technique. The instrument used was "Self-control scale in preventing pornography" with a reliability value of (0.888). The results showed that: most of the students as many as (65.6%) of the students had "moderate" self-control in the prevention of pornography, then a small proportion of students (2.3%) of students had "low self-control". "In the prevention of pornography. Furthermore, as many as (5.5%) students had “very high” self-control in preventing pornography and as many as (26.6%) students had “high” self-control in preventing pornography. The results of the study generally showed that students' self-control was in the medium category with a percentage of 65.6% and it needed to be improved in order to prevent pornography. The results of this research can be used as a basis for counseling teachers in providing guidance and counseling services to prevent student pornographic behavior in schools.

Pornography use, sexual behaviours, and emotional intelligence in italian adolescents

Sexually explicit material (SEM) is easily accessed by adolescents. This cross-sectional study examined the characteristics of 413 Italian adolescents (aged 17-22, 55% female) who use SEM. We examined the associations of SEM use with relationship status, religiosity, and emotional intelligence. All of the respondents reported accessing SEM while underage, with males using SEM more than females and accessing SEM at an earlier age; earlier exposure to SEM was also found to influence later SEM use. The reasons for watching pornography also differed be-tween the genders. There was a partial connection between the EQ-I:YV, SEM use, and recent sexual activity. The gender differences in terms of the prevalence and reasons for the use of SEM may be connected to a more general gender cultural stereotype.