Parents’ Attitudes About School-Based Sex Education in Croatia

In 2012, a culture war over a comprehensive sexuality education module, included in the first ever school-based health education (HE) program, erupted in Croatia. Both the opponents of the program and the supporters claimed to represent the opinion of the majority of parents. This study aimed to assess parents’ support for the program and to explore the association between familiarity with and support for health and sexuality education. All analyses were based on the data from two national probability-based samples of parents (n = 1949 and n = 919) surveyed as a part of the HE program evaluation study carried out in the period between May 2013 and May 2014. At the end of the period under observation, a large majority of participants (78.6 %) supported the program. A significant association between familiarity with and support for the program was observed only after more (detailed) information about HE became publicly available. Form teachers that parents trusted seemed to facilitate parents’ familiarity with the program. Considering the controversial character of sexuality education, timely and systematic efforts directed at providing parents with comprehensive information about the program may be crucial for its successful implementation.