Knowledge socially constructed about sexually transmitted disease: Representations of teenagers.

Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) has a strong impact on society by affecting a significant number of individuals and it is among the top five causes of seeking health services. This research aimed to understand the representations of teenagers in municipal public schools on knowledge about STDs. This is an exploratory and descriptive study, with quantitative and qualitative approach by using the Theory of the Central Core. The sample was composed of 114 teenagers placed in public schools in a city in the interior of Bahia. It had the objective of understand the representational structure, and the subjects of this study underwent stimulus inducing Sexually Transmitted Infections / Sexually Transmitted Diseases for building of a framework of four houses, from free evocations. The data were analyzed using the software EVOC 2000. The results showed that the structure of social representations of knowledge about STDs built by teenagers is associated with biological elements when observing the central core and closely linked to AIDS, its main form of transmission and prevention, when checking the peripheral system. It is concluded that the school environment should be taken as the center stage in the discussion of the themes that permeate the universe of their students related to the importance of sex education with emphasis on prevention of risky behaviors.