The Effect of Educational Videos on Female Adolescents' Knowledge about the Impact of Early Marriage at SMA Negeri 1 Gambut

Abstract

Early marriage remains a major public health issue in Indonesia because it contributes to adverse reproductive, psychological, social, and economic outcomes among adolescents. Strengthening adolescents' knowledge through health education is considered an important strategy to prevent early marriage. This study aimed to determine the effect of educational videos on female adolescents' knowledge regarding the impact of early marriage at SMA Negeri 1 Gambut. This quantitative study employed a one-group pretest–posttest design. Participants were selected using purposive sampling followed by cluster sampling and simple random sampling, resulting in 30 female students from grade XI. The intervention consisted of animated educational videos about the impact of early marriage, which were presented three times over three consecutive days. Data were collected using a validated and reliable knowledge questionnaire. Statistical analysis included univariate analysis using frequency distributions and descriptive statistics, while bivariate analysis was performed using the Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test because the data were not normally distributed. Before the intervention, most respondents had sufficient knowledge (70%), whereas after the intervention, the majority demonstrated good knowledge (93.3%). The Wilcoxon test showed a significant improvement in knowledge after receiving the educational videos (p = 0.000). These findings indicate that animated educational videos are effective in improving adolescents' understanding of the consequences of early marriage. It is recommended that schools, health professionals, and local health authorities integrate educational videos into adolescent reproductive health promotion programs as an engaging and sustainable educational strategy to prevent early marriage.