Journal of Health Literacy

Journal of Health Literacy

Association between Sexual Health Literacy and Belief in Sexual Myths among Students in Health-Related Programmes at a Turkish University: An Analytical Cross-Sectional

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Ebru ESENKAYA
Zehra GOLBASI
MSc, Health Services Vocational School, Lokman Hekim University, Ankara, Turkey.
10.22038/jhl.2026.96972.2007
Abstract
Background and Objectives: This study aimed to examine the association between sexual health literacy and belief in sexual myths among Turkish university students and to identify factors associated with belief in sexual myths.

Materials and Methods: This analytical cross-sectional study was conducted with 255 university students in Turkey. Data were collected using the Demographic Information Form, the Sexual Health Literacy Scale (SHLS), and the Sexual Myths Scale (SMS). Independent-samples t tests, one-way ANOVA, Pearson correlation analysis, and multiple linear regression analysis were performed.

Results: The mean SHLS and SMS scores were 55.14 (SD=8.24) and 63.85 (SD=17.11), respectively. A significant negative correlation was found between SHLS and SMS scores (r=−.250, p<.001). The multiple linear regression model was statistically significant [F(9, 245)=11.500, p<.001] and explained 29.7% of the variance in SMS scores (R²=.297; adjusted R² =.271). Higher SHLS scores were independently associated with lower SMS scores (β=−.225, p<.001), whereas male sex was associated with higher SMS scores (β=.387, p<.001). Among the variables included in the model, sex had the largest standardised regression coefficient.

Conclusion: Higher sexual health literacy was associated with lower levels of belief in sexual myths. However, sex showed a larger standardised association with belief in sexual myths than sexual health literacy. These findings suggest that differences in belief in sexual myths may not be accounted for by sexual health literacy alone.
Keywords
Sexual Health
Health Literacy
Myths
University
Student

Acknowledgments: We thank all participants who agreed to take part in the data collection process.


Availability of data and Materials: Data will be available on request from the corresponding author.


Conflict of interest: None of the authors has a conflict of interest with respect to the authorship and or publication of this article.


Consent for publication: Not applicable.


Ethics approval and consent to participate: Ethical approval was obtained from the Lokman Hekim University Clinical Research Ethics Committee (Decision No. 2023/219; Code No. 2023204; November 30, 2023), and institutional permission was obtained before data collection. The study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Participation was entirely voluntary, and electronic informed consent was obtained from all participants before they accessed the questionnaire. Students were informed that participation or non-participation would not affect their academic standing or performance and that they could withdraw from the study at any time without any consequences. Confidentiality of the participants and research data was maintained throughout the study. The research data will be securely retained for two years. Following completion of the study, the findings were shared with the students.


Funding: The authors did not receive any financial support for the research, authorship, and publication of this article.


Author contributions: Ebru Esenkaya; developed the study, collected the data, prepared the draft, performed the statistical analyses, and wrote and translated the article. Zehra Gölbasi; served as the study supervisor; she supervised and developed the study, interpreted the results, and reviewed the translation. All authors read and approved the final article.

 

Open Access Policy: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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Journal of Health Literacy

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 13 October 2026