Vasfiye Bayram Değer, Hıdır Apak, Kadriye Olğaç Ak, Nilay Filoğlu
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Abstract
Background: Cultural norms, taboos, and insufficient education are among the significant barriers to individuals' access to sexual health information. In some societies, sexual health education may be inadequate, which can lead to unhealthy sexual behaviors due to low levels of sexual health literacy. Moreover, individuals often experience difficulties in accessing, understanding, and utilizing reliable information. These factors underline the critical need for context-specific, reliable, and valid tools to measure sexual health literacy. Therefore, there is a need for the development of a culturally appropriate sexual health literacy scale tailored to the specific characteristics of the target population.
Objectives: This quantitative study aimed to develop a valid and reliable measurement tool to assess sexual health literacy levels among Turkish-speaking adults, addressing the gap in assessing individuals' ability to obtain, comprehend, and utilize sexual health information effectively.
Methods: A pool of items was generated to measure sexual health literacy, followed by exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and reliability testing. A total of 1,013 adult individuals participated in the study. It has been determined that the Sexual Health Literacy Scale for Adults consists of 17 items and three factors (knowledge, cognitive, and behavioral). The EFA was conducted with a sample of primarily young university students (age 18 to 25 years), while CFA involved a broader adult population. The scale demonstrated strong internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's alpha = .97).
Key results: Structural analyses revealed that the scale consisted of 17 items and three factors. Reliability tests demonstrated strong internal consistency, with a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of .97.
Conclusions: This study presents a valid and reliable measurement tool for assessing sexual health literacy in adults. The developed scale can be used in Türkiye to investigate sexual health literacy. Given the significance of the subject, it is recommended to determine sexual health literacy levels among various groups and expand sexual and reproductive health education. One limitation of the study is that the EFA sample consisted predominantly of university students, which may limit generalizability to the broader adult population.
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