The various concepts of teenagers sexuality influencing their preventive and contraceptive attitudes

Objective: to know the way through which the concepts of sexuality embodied by the adolescents interfere in their preventive actions, searching for the factors that compromise their sexual and reproductive health. Methodology: this is a study with a qualitative design, carried out with the approval by the Ethics Committe of Funorte, under the Protocol 0129/8. The data were obtained through the focal group technique on October 2008. The study’s subjects were six adolescent girls whose ages ranged from 13 to 17 years, all of them users of the Health Center of the Maracana neighborhood, in Montes Claros, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Results: the results showed that the adolescence experience favors the construction of ideas on sexuality; that parents aren't prepared to guide their children on the theme; that gender issues influence the sexuality in adolescence; and that both the health services and the school do not clarify issues related to sexuality, leading friends to be the major sources of information. Conclusion: the understanding on the several concepts of sexuality and the factors influencing on the construction of their values from the adolescent's reality will be useful to guide the doing of nursing, as well as that of other professional categories in the integral care provided to this public. Descriptors: adolescent; sexuality; sexual and reproductive health. RESUMO Objetivo: conhecer a maneira pela qual os conceitos de sexualidade que os adolescentes absorvem interferem em suas ações preventivas, buscando-se os fatores que comprometem sua saúde sexual e reprodutiva. Metodologia: trata-se de um estudo de natureza qualitativa, desempenhado com aprovação do Comitê de Ética da Funorte, sob o Protocolo n. 0129/08. Os dados foram obtidos através de técnica do grupo focal em outubro de 2008. Os sujeitos do estudo foram seis adolescentes do sexo feminino com idades entre 13 e 17 anos, todas usuárias do Centro de Saúde do bairro Maracanã, em Montes Claros, Minas Gerais. Resultados: os resultados mostraram que ...