It's Supposed to Be Personal: Personal and Educational Factors Associated with Sexual Health Attitudes, Knowledge, Comfort and Skill in Health Profession Students

Lindsey M. West, Lara M. Stepleman, Christina K. Wilson, Jeff Campbell, Margo Villarosa, Brittany Bodie, Matthew Decker

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

17 Scopus citations

Abstract

The health professional and the patient are cultural beings with beliefs and attitudes that are shaped by family traditions, social development, and exposure to novel experiences. As such, it is especially important for health profession students to gain awareness about the personal and educational factors that likely inform their practice and educational experiences and, as a result, impact their attitudes, knowledge, comfort, and skill in the area of sexual health. The current study sought to understand personal factors in health profession students associated with these sexual health competencies. Several early personal factors (gender, social class, and family sexuality communication), current personal factors (religion, spirituality, and relationship history), and educational factors (perceived quality of education and experience) were significantly related with sexual health competency. Results suggest that there is potential value to tailored interventions, student self-reflection, and interprofessional education among health profession students' for the promotion of sexual health competency.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)329-354
Number of pages26
JournalAmerican Journal of Sexuality Education
Volume7
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2012

Keywords

  • Personal factors
  • competency
  • health profession students
  • sexual health education

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Education

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