• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.90-101
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• 2015

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate impact of sexual knowledge and sexual self-efficacy on sexual autonomy in middle school students in a rural area. Methods: With a cross-sectional descriptive design, 236 second-grade students were recruited from 4 middle schools using convenience sampling. The instrument was a self-administered questionnaire on sexual knowledge, sexual self-efficacy, and sexual autonomy. Data were analyzed using 2-sample t-test, one-way ANOVA, Scheffe, Pearson correlation coefficient, and stepwise regression. Results: Results showed significant positive correlations among sexual knowledge, sexual self-efficacy, and sexual autonomy. Sexual self-efficacy and sexual knowledge explained 37% of the variance in sexual autonomy. Conclusion: Findings of this study suggest that it is relevant to address sexual self-efficacy as well as sexual knowledge in order to increase sexual autonomy in middle school students. Further studies are warranted to investigate these variables with a larger sample and for development and validation of interventions to enhance sexual self-efficacy and sexual autonomy in middle school students.