Information about the thesis "Students' Perceptions of Safe Sexual Relationships" by graduate student Bui Thi Phuong Thao, majoring in Social Psychology.1. Student's Full Name: Bui Thi Phuong Thao 2. Gender: Female 3. Date of Birth: November 1, 1984 4. Place of Birth: Nam Dinh 5. Decision No. 2551/2007/QD-XHNV-KH&SDH dated November 2, 2007, by the Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi 6. Changes during the training process: None 7. Thesis Title: “Students' Perceptions of Safe Sexual Relations” 8. Major: Social Psychology; Code: 60 31 80 9. Scientific Advisor: Dr. La Thi Thu Thuy - Institute of Psychology 10. Summary of thesis results: Through theoretical and practical research on the topic "Students' perceptions of safe sex," we draw the following conclusions: - Theoretically: The topic has summarized several research works related to the research content. It has built a system of conceptual tools such as: perception, sex, safe sex, safe sexual relations, students' perceptions of safe sex, and identified some factors influencing their perceptions of this issue. - Practically: The research was conducted on 233 students of Luong The Vinh Private University (Nam Dinh City). The results of the practical research have revealed the following issues: + The majority of students currently believe that sex is the satisfaction of natural human needs (54.4%), sex expresses love (51.9%), sex is a necessary element in maintaining love (41.2%), and more than half of the students do not consider sex to be a sacred value that should be cherished. These inaccurate perceptions lead to incorrect views on sex, easily resulting in premarital sexual relations. + Most students currently know that using condoms correctly during sexual intercourse is safe sex. However, 37.1% of students do not know that "sexual intercourse without blood and bodily fluids from the partner coming into contact with one's own body" is safe sex. Furthermore, students also have misconceptions about safe sex, such as "safe sex is intercourse without ejaculation into the vagina" (56.5% of students), and "safe sex is simply showering thoroughly after intercourse" (43.9% of students). These figures show that students have some understanding of safe sex, but their understanding is incomplete and misleading. + Students' understanding of reproductive health and sexual health is also lacking and not in-depth. Many students are unaware of their rights related to reproductive and sexual health. Only 36.4% of students recognize the fertile period of a normal menstrual cycle. Regarding contraception, their understanding is incomplete; many do not recognize the role and effectiveness of daily birth control pills and emergency contraception. Students lack specific skills in using condoms. Furthermore, the majority of students are not ready to carry condoms. Over half of the students refuse to carry condoms, even for the purpose of intercourse. Most students are aware of some sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS, syphilis, and gonorrhea. However, the majority are unaware that hepatitis B, genital warts, HPV, Chlamydia, and Herpes are also sexually transmitted diseases. + The majority of students believe that correct awareness of safe sex has the greatest impact on safe sexual intercourse. In addition, they highly value factors such as mass media, the correct understanding of friends, and the educational support from family and school as having a significant influence on their awareness of this issue. + The majority of students believe that education on reproductive health and sexual health should be strengthened for students starting from the lower secondary level to ensure that young people and students have correct knowledge about safe sexual relations. Students also desire more attention and education from their families, schools, and the media regarding safe sex. The research results show that disseminating correct information about reproductive health and sexual health to students has become an urgent issue for families, schools, and society as a whole. We need comprehensive and timely solutions to help students develop awareness and behaviors regarding safe sexual relations. 11. Practical application: Through our research, we found that awareness of safe sexual relations is a pressing issue for society in general and for students in particular. Especially, premarital sex and cohabitation have become a trend among students, but their awareness of safe sexual relations is still lacking and weak. We need to strengthen the dissemination of information and education on reproductive health and sexual health in general to ensure that students have a correct understanding of safe sex. 12. Future research directions: In the future, we will continue research in the following directions: - Expanding research to universities nationwide. - Conducting pilot programs on reproductive health and sexual health education and evaluating the level of awareness improvement among students regarding safe sex in several universities. 13. Published works related to the thesis: None
INFORMATION ON MASTER'S THESIS
1. Full name: Bui Thi Phuong Thao 2. Sex: Female 3. Date of birth: November 1, 1984 4. Place of birth: Nam Dinh Province 5. Admission decision number: 2551/2007/QD-XHNV-KH&SĐH Dated November 2nd, 2007 by the President of Vietnam National University – Hanoi, University of Social Sciences and Humanities 6. Changes in academic process: None (List the forms of change and corresponding times) 7. Official thesis title: “The awareness of safe sex among students”. 8. Major: Social Psychology 9. Code: 60 31 80 10. Supervisors Doctor La Thi Thu Thuy – Institute of Psychology 11. Summary of the findings of the thesis: Based on the theoretical and practical studies of the thesis “the awareness of safe sex among students”, the conclusions are drawn as follows: - Theoretically: The thesis has offered a general overview of certain literature on the subject matter. A system of instrumental concepts has been developed regarding such aspects as: awareness, sex, safe sex, safe sexual activity, students' awareness of safe sexual activity and some factors affecting their awareness are also highlighted in the thesis. - Practically: The study was conducted covering 233 students at Luong The Vinh Private University (Nam Dinh City). The practical study outcomes have revealed the following issues: + A majority of students perceive sex as the satisfaction of the natural desire of the human beings (54.4%), as love (51.9%), as the essential determinants in nourishing love (41.2%) and over half of the students do not consider love as the sacred value that deserves respect. These misperceptions have resulted in inadequate awareness of sex and the risks of premarital sex. + Almost all students are aware of the fact that correct condom usage means safe sex. However, 37.1% of the students did not realize that safe sex means “sexual activity without being tainted with partners' blood or genital fluids.” Moreover, 56.5% of the students misperceived that “safe sex means sexual intercourse without ejaculating in the vagina” while 43.9% of them wrongly supposed that “safe sex means thoroughly body washing after having sex.” It can be drawn from the findings that although the students have certain knowledge of safe sex, they are still not adequately and correctly aware of the matter. + Students' knowledge of reproductive and sexual health remains inadequate and short of insights and many of them have not been fully aware of their rights regarding reproductive and sexual health. Only 36.4% of the students are aware of the time when conception is highly probable during a menstrual cycle. As for conceptual methods, the students inevitably or hardly beware of the roles and effects of the daily and emergency contraceptive pills. The students failed to master the skills on using condoms and the majority of the students were not used to bring condoms along. Over half of the students who purported to have sex refused to bring condoms along and although a large number of students are aware of certain sexually-transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS, syphilis and gonorrhoea, the majority of the students did not know that hepatitis B, condyloma acuminatim, HPV, Chlamydia, Herpes… are sexually-transmitted diseases. + The majority of the students assumed that safe sexual activity was largely dependent on due awareness of safe sex. In addition, they emphasized that the determinants such as mass media, adequate understanding of friends and family and school's education significantly influenced their awareness. + The majority of the students thought that education on reproductive and sexual health should be enhanced at the secondary school level onward to ensure that young people are equipped with proper understanding of safe sexual activity. The students also hoped that education on safe sex should be further promoted by the family, schools and mass media. The study outcomes indicate that education and communication for improved awareness of reproductive and sexual health has become the urgent issue for the family, school and society. Therefore, streamlined and timely measures are needed to equip students with due awareness of safe sexual activity and behaviors. 12. Practical applicability, if any: The study shows that awareness of safe sex is an urgent issue for the society in general and students in particular. Particularly, premarital sex and cohabitation has become popular among students regardless of inadequate and insufficient awareness of safe sexual activity. We need to strengthen sexual education and communication on reproductive and health in general to ensure proper awareness of safe sexual activity among students. 13. Further research directions, if any: We will further our study emphasizing the following aspects: - To broaden the subjects of the study to cover the students from universities national. - To conduct pilot communication and education on reproductive and sexual health and assess the improvement of the students' awareness of safe sexual activity in certain universities. 14. Thesis-related publications: None
