Aim: This study aimed to examine the effects of sexual health knowledge and sexual health literacy on nursing students’ attitudes toward sexual health care and to identify the sociodemographic and educational factors associated with these attitudes. Material and Methods: This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted with 290 undergraduate nursing students between January 20 and February 20, 2025. Data were collected through an online questionnaire including a Semi-Structured Data Collection Form, the Sexual Health Knowledge Test, the Sexual Health Literacy Scale, and the Students’ Attitudes toward Addressing Sexual Health Scale. Descriptive statistics, independent samples t-tests, one-way ANOVA, Pearson correlation, and hierarchical linear regression analyses were performed. Results: Participants had a mean age of 21.99±1.74 years, and 83.4% were female. Attitude scores were significantly associated with school year, sexual health training, perceived sufficiency of sexual health knowledge, sexual health knowledge, and sexual health literacy. In the hierarchical regression analysis, Model 1 explained 16.2% of the variance, with school year and perceived sufficiency being significant predictors. Adding sexual health knowledge in Model 2 raised the variance only to 17.1% and was not significant. In Model 3, sexual health literacy increased the explained variance to 29.3% and became the strongest predictor.Conclusions: The findings indicate that sexual health literacy plays a central role in shaping nursing students’ attitudes toward sexual health care, surpassing the effects of knowledge alone. Educational progression and perceived competence also contribute significantly. Enhancing sexual health literacy within nursing curricula may be essential for preparing students to deliver confident, sensitive, and patient-centered sexual health care.Implication for nursing practice: Strengthening sexual health literacy within nursing curricula may enhance students’ readiness to provide confident, sensitive, and patient-centered sexual health care.
Mert-Karadas et al. (Thu,) studied this question.