The present study revealed that the level of SHL among unmarried men attending premarital counseling centers in Ardabil Province, Iran, was associated with several demographic characteristics. In this way, no significant relationship was found between overall SHL and age and occupation in these individuals, although access skills were greater in employed men than in unemployed men. However, the relationship between educational attainment and place of residence was significant.
In agreement with these findings, Sánchez et al. (2023) reported that age could not affect SHL among Latin men, but gender had a leading role in this sense [3, 4, 18]. In addition, Arasteh et al. (2022) reported that age was not significantly associated with SHL among men living in Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran [19]. However, McElvaney et al. (2020) reported that SHL and age are interconnected. This difference could be attributed to the statistical populations, i.e., a group of children had been recruited as the main participants [20]. Moreover, Wångdahl et al. (2014) reported an inverse relationship between SHL and age in Sweden [21].
According to a review study, the levels of SHL could be influenced by age, gender, educational attainment, sexual relationships, place of birth or residence, and even religious beliefs [22]. In contrast to the findings of the present study, Velardo et al. (2015) reported that age could be related to improvements in the dimensions of reading and understanding within SHL among Australian respondents [23].
The results revealed a statistically significant relationship between educational attainment and SHL, which was consistent with the findings of Jamali (2020), namely, that age and educational attainment were two significant factors affecting SHL. Therefore, SHL was lower in participants with primary and secondary education than in those with graduate education [24]. In Dabiri et al. (2019), SHL was further found to be significantly correlated with educational attainment to the extent that inadequate SHL was more common in cases with lower levels of education [25]. In addition, Leiser et al. (2017) and Kimberly et al. (2016), in their studies in North Carolina, the United States, concluded that educational attainment and the levels of SHL were correlated [26, 27]. Nelson et al. (2019) reported that educational attainment could be associated with SH information and highlighted the effective role of learning approaches in SH education [28]. Similarly, Adekola et al. (2022) showed that individuals with higher levels of education had better capacities to recognize authenticated resources, evaluate content validity, and merge relevant literacy, so they were able to make more informed decisions [29]. These results are in line with those of the present study. Nonetheless, Ankoma et al. (2021) reported no relationship between SHL and educational attainment but reflected the significant function of mothers in this domain [30]. Mustanski et al. (2011) reported no relationship between SHL and educational attainment, but the internet was assumed to be much more important [31].
Moreover, the present study revealed that being employed could facilitate access to SH information. In contrast to these findings, Arasteh et al. (2022) reported no significant relationship in this regard [19]. In line with these findings, Panahi et al. (2021) noted that occupation could have a high impact on SHL among women, and such a relationship has been observed between occupation and reading and understanding within SHL[32, 33]. In the United States, Craig-Kuhn (2020) reported that occupation could play a key role in accessing SH information, although sexual education in the workplace was mentioned as influential, which could have led to a variation in these studies [34]. Additionally, Starrs et al. (2018) realized that having a job could increase SHL by paving financial and time-related ground [35].
According to the results of the present study, a statistically significant relationship was established between overall SHL and place of residence but not between place of residence and various dimensions of SHL, including access, reading and understanding, and evaluation and analysis. In Vangaxi et al. (2019), SHL was further at higher levels in adolescents attending urban schools [8]. In this context, more access to the available online facilities for searching for different resources has been effective. Brennan et al. (2022) also reported that urban or rural areas could have a significant effect on SHL among those living in Canada [36]. Moreover, Mustanski (2011) reported that patients living in urban areas had higher SHL, among others, which was at odds with the findings of the present study [37]. Jafari et al. (2021) and Dehghankar et al. (2021) argued that individuals living in rural areas had lower SHLs, particularly in terms of their reading and understanding [38, 39]. The differences in demographic characteristics might have affected the results, but further research is recommended to confirm these findings. One possible explanation for these findings is that SHL might have been shaped by other factors, such as cultural beliefs, social norms, and personal experiences. It was also reasonable that individuals might have acquired SHL from other resources, not merely written materials, e.g., peer communication, online resources, or educational programs.