Annual of social work, Vol. 22 No. 3, 2015.
Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.3935/ljsr.v22i2.88
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RELIGIOUSNESS AND SEXUALITY IN FEMALE ADOLESCENTS – DO PARENTS HAVE A MEDIATING ROLE?
Linda Rajhvajn Bulat
; Department of social work, Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to examine the relationship between the religiousness of female adolescents and their sexual behaviour and experience, as well as the role that this connection has in the girls' relationships and communication with their parents.
A total of 560 female secondary school students in the 1st and 3rd grades from Zagreb and the Zagreb County participated in the research. The variables pertinent to this research were measured with the Sexuality Questionnaire (sexual behaviour, intention to engage in sexual activities in the next year, thoughts and feelings about engaging in sexual activities in this period), claims referring to the religiousness of the participants, the Relationship with Parents subscale from Marsh's Self Description Questionnaire II, the Scale of parental and peer approval of sexual behaviour, and the Questionnaire on the communication of adolescents with parents.
The results confirm that there is a strong connection between the female adolescents' religiousness and their sexual behaviour and experience, with the most religious female adolescents having less sexual experience and being less motivated to engage in sexual activities in the next twelve months. The connection between religiousness and sexuality is stronger in older adolescents. In addition, a significant mediator in the connection between the girls' religiousness and sexuality are indirect messages regarding sexuality that they receive from their parents. For 1st grade students, a significant mediator in this connection is their relationship with their parents, whereas for 3rd grade students it is the parents' approval of their sexual behaviour.
Keywords
female adolescents; sexual behaviour; religiousness; parents; communication
Hrčak ID:
153761
URI
Publication date:
26.2.2016.
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