Sexual behaviour and knowledge among adolescents in Ireland

In the present study the reported sexual activity and aspects of sexual knowledge of adolescents in both rural and urban areas in Ireland was documented.

A questionnaire was administered to secondary school pupils aged 14-19 years during 2003-04. Data were analysed using the software package SPSS version 15.0. Associations between boys and girls, younger (or=16 years), and students from urban and rural schools were measured using the chi2 statistic.

The findings indicated that over a third of respondents had experienced sexual intercourse. However, the consistent trend in all previous studies of a greater proportion of boys reporting that they had full sex was reversed in the present study, with a higher proportion of girls stating that they had experienced their sexual debut. With regard to sexual coercion, while only a tenth of boys reported that they felt pressured to have full sex, approximately a third of girls reported that they had at some time felt pressured. Boys manifested a poorer understanding of fertility than girls, with more than half believing that a pregnancy would not occur while a woman was menstruating.

Endeavours designed to improve young people's knowledge of reproductive physiology and the risks they pose to themselves by having sex without a condom need to be improved.