In the USA, persons of Hispanic ethnicity experience higher rates of adolescent pregnancy and STIs than non-Hispanic white youth and there exists a lack of research concerning the sexuality education preferences of Hispanic adolescents. This study describes sexual health education preferences by Hispanic ethnicity among a high-risk sample of young…

This research brief explores how emotions and relationships drive learning and are a fundamental part of how our brains develop. The authors explain how emotionally safe and cognitively stimulating environments contribute to brain development; how brain development that supports learning depends on social experiences; and how sensitive periods in…

Community mobilization is a strategy that organizes a community across sectors for long-term change, and is one way for communities to provide supports for young people to make healthy sexual choices. In the context of teen pregnancy, community mobilization can address the interconnected web of factors that influence teen sexual attitudes by…

The authors present the feasibility and acceptability of a parent sexuality education program led by peer educators in community settings. They also report the results of an outcome evaluation with 71 parents who were randomized to the intervention or a control group and surveyed one month prior to and six months after the four-week intervention.…

What distinguishes adolescents who are active in community and political life from those who are not? In an attempt to answer this question, students in their last years of secondary school completed a measure of community and political activities, along with measures of parent and peer interactions, identity development, and adjustment. Cluster…

The former HEW (Health, Education, and Welfare) National Strategy for Youth Development Model proposed a community-based program to promote positive youth development and to prevent delinquency through a sequence of youth needs assessments, needs-targeted programs, and program impact evaluation. HEW Community Program Impact Scales data obtained…

Because social competency is an important element for adolescents' healthy development, a central question is what can be done to help adolescents achieve and maintain social competency. This report details antecedents of two key aspects of social competency: quality social relationships and good social skills. For each social relationship and…

Reacting to community opposition to a pregnancy prevention program, the Suffolk County, New York, health department assessed community needs and values to develop a program that would be acceptable. The program focuses on informing parents about teenage sexual problems and emphasizes parent-child communication. (PP)

This book looks at the problem of drug abuse, particularly the use of marihuana by children ages 9 to 14, and describes one strategy parents can use to prevent drug use by their children. On the premise that nonmedical drug use is not acceptable for children, parents need to provide guidance and exercise discipline with respect to drug use among…

This paper describes strategies for developing drug abuse prevention programs in rural communities, based on available evidence about factors contributing to drug abuse. Comprehensive interventions to prevent drug abuse and other youth problems are needed because drug abuse is entwined with other problem behaviors and stems from a complex set of…

This report finds that adolescent smoking, drinking, misusing prescription drugs and using illegal drugs is, by any measure, a public health problem of epidemic proportion, presenting clear and present danger to millions of America's teenagers and severe and expensive long-range consequences for the entire population. This report is a wake-up call…

This report evaluates the 1981-82 activities of five component programs carried out under Project Education and Community Development, a project designed to enhance family processes and community development in disadvantaged neighborhoods in Ofakim, Israel. Part I describes project background, aims and objectives, intervention strategies, and…

The Parents Matter! Program (PMP) is a community-based family intervention designed to promote positive parenting and effective parent-child communication about sexuality and sexual risk reduction. Its ultimate goal is to reduce sexual risk behavior among adolescents. PMP offers parents instruction and guidance in general parenting skills related…

Since 1982, the Ounce of Prevention Fund's network of Parents Too Soon (PTS) programs for teen parents throughout Illinois has supported communities, programs, and families through a mix of mechanisms: funding, program development, extensive training and support, and public policy advocacy. This article describes a qualitative view of how…

This report reviews activities carried out from 1980 to 1982 under Project Education and Community Development, a home intervention program designed to enhance the social and educational environment of minority group families in Ofakim, Israel. After a brief introduction (Part I), the accomplishments of each component program are considered…