The relative importance of socio-ecological factors in regard to psychosexual health among adolescent students: based on dominance analysis.

Abstract

Background Psychosexual health refers to an individual's capacity to acquire sexual knowledge through appropriate means, develop healthy values, accept bodily changes, align with socio-cultural norms and regulate sexual behaviors. The study aimed to explore the relative importance of general self-efficacy, sexual refusal self-efficacy, peer relationship, parental monitoring and parent-teen communication about sex in influencing psychosexual health among secondary vocational school students. Methods A total of 2895 secondary vocational school students from of Shandong province in China were selected to complete the General Self-Efficacy Scale, Sexual Refusal Self-Efficacy Questionnaire, Peer Relationship Scale, Parental Monitoring Questionnaire, Parent-Teen Communication about Sex Questionnaire, School Connectedness Scale, School Sex Education Questionnaire and High School Student Psychosexual Health Scale. Dominance analysis was used for statistical analysis. Results Dominance analysis revealed that importance rankings of the socio-ecological factors on psychosexual health in descending order were: peer relationship (the degree of contribution was 36.1%), parent-adolescent communication about sex (the degree of contribution was 34.2%), general self-efficacy (the degree of contribution was 14.5%), sexual refusal self-efficacy (the degree of contribution was 9.6%) and parental monitoring (the degree of contribution was 5.9%). Conclusions Peer relationship, parent-adolescent communication about sex, general self-efficacy, sexual refusal self-efficacy and parental monitoring are the main socio-ecological factors on psychosexual health among secondary vocational school students. Accordingly, helping students build good peer relationships, facilitating appropriate parent-adolescent communication about sex and proper parental monitoring, and increasing students' general self-efficacy and sexual refusal self-efficacy are crucial measures to improve psychosexual health for secondary vocational school students.