Shamangi Deshpande, Prerna Karulkar and Anagha Lavalekar
Jnana Prabodhini’s Institute of Psychology, Pune
Adolescence is an important phase of life. It brings ample opportunities for development
in skills, abilities, independence, and discovering self-identity but there are many
associated threats. Drug abuse and risky sexual practices are the major disconcerting
risks among adolescents. These issues have an impact on all aspects of their lives.
This study was designed to find out the impact on the level of awareness by psychoeducating adolescents about the ill effects of addiction and risks encountered in sexual
and reproductive health. Adolescents from various schools in Pune city aged 13-16
years were provided in depth educational intervention and were tested before and after
the intervention on pre-designed tests. A total of 4005 adolescents and 210 trainers
participated in the study. The data was compiled in excel and data analysis was done in
SPSS. Results showed a significant improvement in the knowledge of sexuality issues
and gender sensitivity (t = 20.85 at p = 0.00), myths, and misconceptions about addiction
(t = 3.86 at p = 0.00) was seen. A positive change is noticed in emotional regulation
tendencies (t = 7.09 at p = 0.00) after the educational intervention. As compared to males,
females have shown improvement in understanding sexuality issues and emotional
regulation but in awareness about addiction, no significant difference was noticed in
both. The problems of addiction and unhealthy sexual practices can be controlled by
effective psycho-education awareness programs. Such preventive interventions should
be aimed at younger age groups, focusing on before the usual age of initiation
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