Peer mentorship interventions over three months significantly influenced adolescents' knowledge and attitudes about sexual and reproductive health in senior high school students in Batam, Indonesia.
Adolescent knowledge about sexual and reproductive health in the high category increased substantially after the peer mentorship intervention.
Positive attitudes toward sexual and reproductive health increased among respondents after the peer mentorship intervention.
Peer mentoring interventions significantly influenced respondents' knowledge about sexual and reproductive health.
The majority of study respondents were female and the most common age was 17 years old.
The peer mentorship program involved training student volunteers as mentors to deliver sexual and reproductive health education to peers.
This research suggests that having trained student peers deliver sexual and reproductive health (SRH) education to fellow high school students in Batam, Indonesia can meaningfully improve what adolescents know about these topics. In the study, eight students were trained by health professionals to act as peer mentors and then held 12 educational sessions over three months with a group of 91 students. Before the program, about two-thirds of students had high knowledge about SRH; after the program, nearly all (95.6%) were in the high-knowledge category. Positive attitudes also increased slightly, from 48.4% to 51.6%. The findings suggest that peer-led approaches—where young people teach and support each other—can be an effective way to improve health knowledge among teenagers. This is notable because knowledge about sexual and reproductive health among Indonesian adolescents has generally been reported as low to moderate. The relatively modest change in attitudes compared to the larger change in knowledge indicates that while information transfer through peer mentorship is quite effective, shifting deeply held attitudes may require additional or longer-term strategies. This research suggests that schools could benefit from formally incorporating peer mentorship into their health education programs. Because peer mentors are closer in age and social experience to students than adult teachers, they may be able to communicate more relatable and accessible information. The authors recommend that this type of peer mentorship become a standard school program, which could be a low-cost and scalable approach to improving adolescent health literacy.
Putri A, Sansuwito T. (2025). Enhancing adolescent knowledge and attitudes: the impact of peer mentorship on sexual and reproductive health in senior high school, Batam.. International journal of adolescent medicine and health. https://doi.org/10.1515/ijamh-2025-0071