Health Education Program for Promoting Attitude and Self Esteem to Prevent Premature Sexual Intercourse Among Secondary School Female Students

Abstract

This quasi-experimental research was aimed to study the effectiveness of a health education
program for promoting attitude and self-esteem to prevent premature sexual intercourse among 94
female Matayomsuksa 2 students. The samples were grouped into an experimental group and a
comparison group, with 47 students each. The experimental group participated in a health education
program that applied social cognitive theory along with the use of life skills development and the
participatory learning process. The activities lasted for four times and data was collected before and
after the program by using a set of questionnaires. Data analysis was done by computing statistics
including frequency, percentage, arithmetic mean, Paired samples t-test, Independent t-test,
Wilcoxon signed rank test, and Mann Whitney U test. The results showed that after the experimental
program, the experimental group had significantly higher mean scores with regard to attitudes
toward premature sexual intercourse, and self-esteem to prevent premature sexual intercourse
compared to their mean scores before the program and those of the comparison group. Thus, in
order to solve the problems of premature sexual intercourse of female students, schools should
integrate this type of health education program into teaching-learning activities. And the participatory
action research should be operated to solve this problem systematically.