doiSerbia

Sexual and reproductive behaviour of young female internet users in Serbia

Rašević Mirjana (Institut društvenih nauka, Beograd)
Sedlecki Katarina (Institut za zdravstvenu zaštitu majke i deteta Srbije „Dr Vukan Čupić“, Beograd)

Introduction. Investigation of sexual and reproductive behaviour of youth in Serbia has not been performed by Internet, although it is their popular information and communication channel. Objective. Analysis of the Internet acceptability among adolescent females as a research method for sexual and reproductive behaviour, identification of the common girl from Serbia, which is informed via the Internet, as well as an overview of the most important problems in the field of sexual and reproductive health of our adolescents. Methods. The possibility of using the Internet is perceived on the basis of the number of girls aged 19­20 years who responded to certain questions asked on the website of the Association of Reproductive Health of Serbia, and reliability of the findings by monitoring the consistency of the obtained responses. Girl’s profile is defined according to most commonly selected answer to a particular issue, and the most important problems by selecting answers to some questions chosen by a significant proportion of patients. Results. Internet has proven to be the accepted research tool among young people, according to a large number of adolescent females who responded to the given questionnaire. The common girl lives in the city (78%), with parents (53%), in the functional family (78%) and belongs to a higher economic stratum (47%). She declares having many friends (44%), being a student, and financially completely relying on parents (67%). She had first sexual intercourse at the age of 17 (20%) and sexual experience with one partner (46%). Her main motive for sexual activity is being in love (64%), and is satisfied with her sexual life (64%). She prefers condom as a contraceptive method, has not been pregnant (90%), and has not been diagnosed with STI (85%). At the same time, serious problems, which may affect sexual and reproductive health, have been identified in a significant proportion of respondents. Conclusion. Internet has a great potential for defining the model of sexual and reproductive behavior of youth, and offers the possibility of alleviating these problems by a variety of activities, including sending motivational messages via Internet.

Keywords: sexual behaviour, young females, Internet, contraception use, sexual and reproductive health

Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 47006