Self-Efficacy in Sexual Health: A Focus on Adolescents in Mexico

Abstract

Self-efficacy is a belief in a person’s ability to perform action or behavior to achieve what is desired independent of the actual capacity of personal outcome. Objective: To determine the level of self-efficacy in adolescents of a public institution in the state of San Luis Potosí. Methodology: A correlational study of 179 adolescents aged 14 to 17 years using stratified random sampling. The instrument used was the self-control scale for the prevention of STIs/ AIDS (SEA-27) consisting of 40 items and Cronbach’s alpha of 0.908. Results: The surveys of the adolescent population correspond to 179 students, of whom 56% are men and 44% are women, the average age being 15 years. The level of self-efficacy of students for HIV-AIDS prevention, where the most relevant data are related to evaluated: 76% corresponds to students who do not induce someone to have self-efficacy, 75% say no to a person whose sexual history is unknown, 74% say no to someone whose drug history is unknown and 70% say no to someone who has drunk and/or consumed alcohol (X 2 = 39,638, df = 4 p < 000); Conclusions: In general, adolescents today are perceived as vulnerable to sexual behavior and have safe sex, which leads us to believe that they do not protect against HIV/AIDS and unwanted pregnancies.