Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care, School of Clinical Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
School of Clinical Medicine, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Front Public Health. 2023 Mar 30;11:1034155. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1034155. eCollection 2023.
COVID-19 pandemic has led to school closure and social distancing measures for infection control. Many young people thus spent more time on electronic devices and the Internet. This study aimed to determine if and how sexual knowledge, perception and behavior as well as sexuality among Hong Kong adolescents were affected as a result.
Youth Sexuality Study conducted by The Family Planning Association of Hong Kong (FPAHK) evaluated the sexual knowledge, attitudes and behaviors and sexual health of youth every 5 years since 1981 with adaptations made to the changing environment. We analyzed this cross-sectional data on sexual knowledge, attitude, and experiences as well as the impacts of COVID-19 on daily life, health and relationships. Univariate analysis was conducted to investigate the relationships between the time spent on electronic devices and sexuality, while mediation analyses using the PROCESS procedure were performed to further explore differences in time spent on electronic devices.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the majority of our participants spent more time on social media and browsing the Internet on electronic devices with less time for extracurricular activities and learning. Nonetheless, there was better overall sexual knowledge and a lower degree of sexual stigma with a higher overall acceptance of sexual minorities. The mediation analyses found that sexual content [Conditional effect = 0.024 (95% CI 0.008, 0.043)] and engagement online [Conditional effect = 0.036 (CI 0.021, 0.053)] could indirectly influence the effect of screen time on the frequency of sexual practices.
Policymakers and frontline professionals should re-examine the pedagogy of the present sex education and consider online sex education as the key mode of delivery while guiding the proper use of electronic devices in the learning and exploration of sexual knowledge.
COVID-19 大流行导致学校关闭和采取社交距离措施以控制感染。因此，许多年轻人在电子设备和互联网上花费了更多的时间。本研究旨在确定香港青少年的性知识、观念和行为以及性观念是否受到影响以及受到何种影响。
香港家庭计划指导会（FPAHK）进行的“青少年性健康研究”自 1981 年以来每 5 年评估一次青少年的性知识、态度和行为以及性健康，并根据不断变化的环境进行调整。我们分析了这些关于性知识、态度和经验的横断面数据，以及 COVID-19 对日常生活、健康和人际关系的影响。进行单变量分析以调查花在电子设备上的时间与性之间的关系，同时使用 PROCESS 程序进行中介分析以进一步探索花在电子设备上的时间的差异。
在 COVID-19 大流行期间，我们的大多数参与者花在社交媒体和浏览互联网上的时间更多，花在课外活动和学习上的时间更少。尽管如此，整体的性知识有所提高，性污名化程度有所降低，对性少数群体的总体接受度也有所提高。中介分析发现，性内容[条件效应=0.024（95%置信区间 0.008，0.043）]和在线参与[条件效应=0.036（CI 0.021，0.053）]可以间接影响屏幕时间对性行为频率的影响。
政策制定者和一线专业人员应重新审视当前性教育的教学法，并考虑将在线性教育作为主要的教学模式，同时指导青少年在学习和探索性知识时正确使用电子设备。
