Perceived knowledge gained from school-based sexuality education – results from a national population-based survey among young people in Sweden

Abstract

Background School-based sexuality education is a core component of securing young people’s right to attain health equity regarding sexual and reproductive health and rights. This paper aims to explore how perceived knowledge (sufficient or insufficient) of taking care of one’s sexual health is associated with knowledge gained from school-based sexuality education and social determinants. Methods The data material is drawn from a population-based survey conducted in Sweden in 2015. The survey had 7755 respondents and a response rate of 26%. To explore the aim descriptive statistics and logistic regression models were used. Results Our results show that perceived insufficient knowledge from school-based sexuality education was associated with higher odds of reporting not being able to take care of one’s sexual health. The highest significant excess risk for insufficient knowledge was found among young people from sexual minorities. Conclusions Young people in Sweden do not have equal abilities to receive knowledge needed to take care of their sexual health and thus attain sexual health literacy. There is an unequal distribution of perceived knowledge, and LGBTQI+ youth particularly face barriers in using school-based sexuality education as a resource for sexual health literacy.