Formation of competence in future psychologists within the domain of psychosexual education for children and adolescents

The aim of the study was to describe the concept of professional competence in the field of psychosexual education of children and adolescents, as well as to empirically verify its structure. The study employed an analysis of international frameworks for psychosexual education, as well as the collection of both quantitative and qualitative data on four components of professional competence of future psychologists, using questionnaires and tasks. The cognitive component of competence was found to be generally well-developed within the future psychologists’ candidates, as indicated by the percentage of respondents who scored at either high (34.9%) or intermediate (46.5%) levels within that component. However, an analysis of the tasks component of competence revealed fewer future psychologists who exhibited the required abilities to execute practical actions within their field; only 37.4% of respondents scored at a high level within the operational-practical component of competence, and only 28.0% scored at the highest level within that component. Finally, while the majority of future teachers scored within the intermediate level (58.0%) within the component of value-ethical competence, a majority of those who scored within the highest level (41.8%) within that component revealed contradictions in their application of those values and ethics to their tasks. The reflective component was characterised by the highest variability and the largest proportion of low indicators (24.4%), evinced by fragmented self-analysis and difficulties in forecasting professional actions. Correlation analysis confirmed the existence of statistically significant relationships between value-ethical orientations and practical readiness (r = 0.58), as well as between the reflective and practical components (r = 0.49), indicating their function as regulators of behavioural decisions. The obtained results facilitated the interpretation of professional competence as an integrative system wherein individual constituents operated asymmetrically and required targeted alignment. The practical significance lies in the potential application of these findings for the development of educational programmes and training modules aimed at instructors of psychological disciplines and developers of academic courses in the domain of psychosexual education.