Actual State of Recognition and Experience of Love, Sex Knowledge and Self-esteem in Girl's Middle and High School Students

여자 중, 고등학생들의 이성과의 신체접촉 양상에 대한 인식과 경험 실태, 성지식과 자아존중감에 대한 조사연구

Purpose: This study was to identify the state of recognition and experience of love, sex knowledge and self-esteem targeting girls who attended middle and high schools. Method: Data was collected from 391 girls of middle and high schools from Aug. 2004 to Nov. 2004. The collected data was analysed through t-test, and ANOVA. Result: The average age of the girls of this study was 16.9 years, and 31.6% of them discussed sex with their parents. The girls' experiences with love were hand-holding(80.8%) the most, and shoulder to shoulder(68.5%), arm in arm(67.8%), hugging(57.0%) and kissing(37.9%) in sequence, while coitus and pregnancy appeared in 0.8% of the cases. The score of sex knowledge was 68.8 and self-esteem was 74.4. Self-esteem was related to age and discussing sex with their parents. Conclusion: As the results above show, the majority of girl-students were mostly knowledgable about friendship and love expressions. At school and home, society's support and encouragement are required so that sex education at a young age and a positive self-concept may be formed.