Drug user girl's perceptions of their sexual decision making: Qualitative research

A critical issue for today’s youth is developing drug user and high risk sexual behaviors. High risk sexual behavior is considered to be a process by which knowledge, attitudes, values, beliefs, and societal norms about sexuality are acquired. The study of adolescent risk behavior has been motivated by public health Concerns such as the prevention of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Then, we need to understand how decision making about the initiation of sexual activity and persistence of this group. The purpose of this research was Drug User Girls’ Perceptions of Factors That Influenced Their Sexual Decision Making. Using a qualitative approach, narrative stories, in depth interview, open and semi- structural interviews. We asked for drug user girl late adolescent participants to tell their stories about the events surrounding their decision to become sexually active, and how this initial decision affected subsequent decision making. We recruited a snowball sampling of 9 drug user girls in late adolescents between the ages of 18 and 22 years in the North Iran. Six main themes emerged. These themes included the personal factors, external environmental factors, expected social norms, religious beliefs, implied sexual consent, absent of life skill regard to telling NO skill, poverty and addiction is the termination line of life. The results of this study show that drug user girl adolescent sexual decision making is a complex process with multiple factors of influence. Through the story and in-depth interview of the participants, we have constructed a more comprehensive understanding of drug user girl adolescent sexual decision making and related factors of their perception. This will guide the development of interventions to improve health care for these adolescents. These interventions include expanding health provider knowledge to inform research, sexual health education, and designing policies for addressing user drug girl adolescents’ needs.