Peer-reviewed article
Reproductive Health Knowledge Correlated with Adolescent Attitudes Towards the Perception of Early Marriage
Maratus Sholichah Fitriah Hajar Kusnianto, Handayani Handayani, Intin Ananingsih, Siti Khoirul Fadila ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined the relationship between reproductive health knowledge and adolescent girls' attitudes towards early marriage in Indonesia. Researchers surveyed 48 female secondary school students and found that reproductive health knowledge correlated with attitudes towards early marriage. The study highlights that better knowledge of reproductive health can help change adolescents' perceptions about early marriage, which carries serious health risks including low birth weight and anemia.
Key points
- A statistically significant correlation was found between reproductive health knowledge and adolescent attitudes towards early marriage perception
- Knowledge is identified as one factor that can determine adolescents' attitudes towards early marriage
- Early marriage is associated with health risks including low birth weight, spontaneous abortion, anemia, and birth defects due to physiologically immature reproductive organs
- Female adolescents at vocational school level (class XI) were the study population
- Reproductive health education is recommended for adolescents, especially girls, to form attitudes and change perceptions about early marriage
Limitations
The study used a small sample size (48 respondents) from a single school in one location, limiting generalisability to all Indonesian adolescents. The cross-sectional design cannot establish causality, only correlation, so it remains unclear whether knowledge changes attitudes or if certain attitudes influence knowledge-seeking.
Abstract
Adolescence is a transition period from childhood to adulthood to find identity. At this time there is a feeling of wanting to try new things. Early marriage is a marriage of a couple aged 19 years or can be categorized as adolescences. One of the serious problems faced by developing countries including Indonesia. The impacts of early marriage include low birth weight, spontaneous abortion, anemia and can cause defects in babies. This happens because the reproductive organs are not physiologically mature. This study aimed to determine the correlation between reproductive health knowledge and adolescent attitudes towards the perception of early marriage. This was correlation quantitative research with Cross-sectional approach. The population of this assessment was female adolescents at SMKN 1 Kademangan class XI. The sample was taken using the simple random sampling technique and obtained 48 respondents. The data analysis used Spearman rank. The research instrument used a questionnaire. From the study, it was found that there was a correlation between reproductive health knowledge and adolescent attitudes towards the perception of early marriage. Knowledge is one of the factors that can determine adolescents' attitudes towards perceptions of early marriage. Reproductive health education needs to be given to adolescents, especially female adolescents, to form attitudes and change perceptions of early marriage.