SEXUAL-BEHAVIOR AND CONTRACEPTIVE PRACTIC ES AMONG UNIVERSITY-STUDENTS

The aim of this work was to study the knowledge, opinions and sexual b ehaviour of a sample of 464 students from the Universidad Austral de C hile. Results show that 78% of male and 41% of female students have ha d a sexual intercourse and that 78% of males and 72% of females with a n active sexual life use contraceptive methods. The principal reasons to avoid the use of these methods are the irregularity of sexual inter course and the reduction in pleasure. Most students think that these m ethods are harmful for their health but they should be used. The use o f contraceptive methods increase with the frequency of sexual relation s and university experience, but first year students use them more fre quently than second year students. Most students know several contrace ptive methods, but their knowledge about mechanisms of action is inade quate or distorted. Likewise, more than 50% think that it is possible to prevent pregnancy after a sexual intercourse. It is concluded that most sexually active students use contraceptive methods, but inappropr iatelly. Stereotypes, myths and lack of information are influencing th eir sexual and contraceptive practices, showing incoherence between th eir knowledge and behavior. A possible explanation could be a scarce i nfluence of high school and religion on their sexual formation.