Attitudes and teaching practices serially mediate the relationship between sexuality education training and early childhood teachers’ competence and delivery

This study investigated whether teachers’ attitudes toward early childhood sexuality education (ECSE) and their teaching practices mediated the relationship between formal sexuality education training and competence in and quality of delivering ECSE. Early childhood teachers (N = 387, 91.5% female) completed an online survey via Qualtrics, including the Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Evaluation Scale for Teachers’ Early Childhood Sex Education and Assessment of Teacher Competence and Quality Delivery of Comprehensive Sexuality Lessons. The hypothetical serial mediation model was analyzed using the PROCESS Model 6.

Results revealed that teachers’ attitudes toward ECSE and their teaching practices partially mediated the relation between formal sexuality education training and teachers’ competence in and quality of ECSE delivery, underscoring the association among such training, positive attitudes, teaching practices, and higher perceived delivery quality. These findings imply that teacher education programs may incorporate and refine ECSE content for pre-service and in-service teachers. Future research may consider longitudinal or pre–post intervention design to investigate how this training can be optimized to effectively support both educators and children in implementing ECSE within formal curricula.

The work was supported by Hong Kong Metropolitan University Research Grant (Small Project Grant) [grant number R4115]. School of Education and Languages, Hong Kong Metropolitan University, Good Shepherd Street, Ho Man Tin, Kowloon, HKSAR, China Keith Kwok Man Ho, Wing Ho, Carmen Oi Kwan Kwok, Sze Hang Chan & Jingru Hou The authors declare no competing interests. Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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Attitudes and teaching practices serially mediate the relationship between sexuality education training and early childhood teachers’ competence and delivery. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-76598-3 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-76598-3