139 International Journal of Medical Science and Public Health 2020 | Vol 9 | Issue 2 Peer education prevents premarital sexuality in adolescents Dwi Yati 1 , Latifah Susilowati 2 , Yanita Trisetiyaningsih 1 1 Department of Maternity Nursing, Nursing Study Program, Faculty of Health, Jenderal Achmad Yani University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, 2 Department of Pediatric Nursing, Nursing Study Program, Faculty of Health, Jenderal Achmad Yani University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia Correspondence to: Latifah Susilowati, E-mail: latsa7ers@yahoo.com Received: December 04, 2019; Accepted: December 21, 2019 INTRODUCTION Sexual maturation that occurs during adolescence as well as psychological and psychosocial changes in life can cause problems in adolescents if not addressed wisely. Based on the WHO data that conducted research in several developing countries showed that 40% of adolescents had sex even though there were no marital ties. [1] Access this article online Website: http://www.ijmsph.com Quick Response code DOI: 10.5455/ijmsph.2020.1234122122019 The Indonesia Demographic and Health Survey 2012 report on the adolescent reproductive health showed that premarital sexual among adolescent girls is 1% and young men is 8.3%. [2] Premarital sexual in adolescents is mostly due to curiosity (45.2%), it just happens (27.5%), the influence of friends (4.5%), and coercion from partners (4.4%). As a result of premarital sexual relations, around 12% have tested positive for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), around 27% are HIV positive, and 30% of adolescent girls have become pregnant, half of them giving birth but half have an abortion. [1] Pregnancy and childbirth in adolescents will result in increased health problems and worsening adolescent sexual health indicators. [3] Human papillomavirus (HPV) infections in the genitals were increased after starting sexual activity with a cumulative incidence of HPV infection rates of 50–80% in 2–3 years after the first sexual intercourse. [4] Research Article Background: The problem often experienced by adolescents today is around sexuality, especially premarital sex. There is a need to increase knowledge of premarital sex among adolescents by providing health education through peer education. Objective: The objective of the study was to determine the effect of peer education on the knowledge and attitudes of premarital sexuality in adolescents. Materials and Methods: The present study is a quasi-experimental pre-post-test with a control group. The total sample of 90 adolescents aged 14–18 years was recruited from two senior high schools in Bantul, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. They were divided into treatment and control groups. The treatment group received peer education about premarital sexuality conducted by peer educators in eight sessions. Researchers conducted peer education training on 10 peer educators and 2 research assistants and then conducted a pre-test of premarital sexuality knowledge and attitudes in both groups before intervention. Researchers were conducted deep interviewed with six respondents. Post-test knowledge and attitudes in both groups were done 4 weeks after intervention. Quantitative statistical analysis used Wilcoxon test and stages according to Colaizi for qualitative. Results: There was an increase of 3.55 in the mean knowledge score and 2.37 in the mean attitude score from pre- to post-intervention using peer education. Peer education method was affected the knowledge of premarital sexuality indicated by P = 0.002 (P < 0.05) and attitudes of premarital sexuality indicated by P = 0.021 (P < 0.05). Qualitative analysis identified uncertainty as a significant them for both knowledge and attitude of premarital sexuality, then evaluate feelings after participating in peer education. Conclusions: The result revealed that peer education significantly improved adolescents’ knowledge and attitude of premarital sexuality. KEY WORDS: Adolescents; Attitude; Knowledge; Peer Education; Premarital Sexuality International Journal of Medical Science and Public Health Online 2020. © 2020 Latifah Susilowati, et al. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), allowing third parties to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format and to remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially, provided the original work is properly cited and states its license. ABSTRACT