1- Department of Community Health Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Iran University of Medical Sciences and Health Services, Tehran, Iran.
2- Department of Community Health Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Iran University of Medical Sciences and Health Services, Tehran, Iran. , farahaninia.m@iums.ac.ir
3- Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract: (2756 Views)
Background: Adolescence is an essential period in every human’s life. The lack of knowledge on puberty issues may adversely impact an adolescent’s future mental health and self-efficacy. The present study aimed to determine the effect of puberty health education on the general self-efficacy of female students.
Methods: This was a quasi-experimental study with a pre-test; post-test and a control group design. This study was conducted on 100 female students of public schools with the onset of menstruation in 2018 in Ghaemshahr City, Iran. To prevent data contamination, the control group was selected from another similar public school. The required data were collected by Sherer General Self-efficacy Questionnaire and analyzed by SPSS using statistics, including mean, standard deviation, Chi-squared test, Fisher’s Exact test, one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), and Paired Samples t-test.
Results: The study groups were matched for demographic variables except for the mother’s age (P=0.01) and father’s education (P=0.001). Self-efficacy was not low in any of the groups before and after the training. Mean±SD pre-training self-efficacy scores in the intervention (63.68±9.72) and control (65.3±8.78) groups were not statistically significant (P=0.69). Comparing the students’ self-efficacy mean Pre-test-Post-test scores revealed a significant difference in the intervention group (P=0.017); however, there was no significant change in the control group (P=0.284) in this respect. Comparing between-group mean self-efficacy changes concerning before and after the intervention values suggested no significant difference (P=0.294).
Conclusion: Puberty health education was effective in promoting the explored female students’ self-efficacy. Accordingly, it is recommended to include puberty education in female students’ courses. In addition, community health nurses are suggested to include this training in their programs.
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● Adolescence is the most critical stages of a person’s life.
● Widespread psychological problems, such as depression, antisocial behaviors, and academic failure, may arise due to the dynamic changes of puberty.
● In Iran, according to the census report of 2016, >25% of the population consisted of adolescents aged 10 to 19 years, with half of them being females.
● Most girls have no basic and essential information about biopsychological conditions in puberty, as well as the required appropriate health behaviors.
● Adolescent girls require accurate and adequate information about their bodies and health.
● Education must be provided to disseminate knowledge about the biopsychosocial questions based on family, school, and public education.
Plain Language Summary
People with high self-efficacy, compared to those with low self-efficacy, select more challenging tasks that involve more effort, as well as greater goals and resilience; thus, they demonstrate better performance and experience less anxiety. Adolescent health education, as a form of educational investment, includes care that promotes mental, physical, and emotional health in adolescence and other life stages. This study aimed to determine the effect of puberty health education on the general self-efficacy of public-school female students. The relevant findings suggested that providing puberty health education was effective in promoting the students’ self-efficacy. This result could be used by healthcare providers, especially community health nurses, to support appropriate and practical training in promoting students’ self-efficacy.
Type of Study:
Research |
Subject:
Special Received: 2019/02/19 | Accepted: 2019/09/2 | Published: 2020/06/1