Reports a study that examined the relationship between young adults' alcohol use and sexual activity. Interviews indicated that alcohol use with sex did not necessarily lead directly to lapses in judgment about safe sex. The relationship of drinking to sexual activity was a complex interplay of personality, expectancies, and circumstances. (SM)

Examined relationship of cognitive capacity, cognitive egocentrism, and experience factors to decision making in contraceptive use. Findings from 50 sexually active, unmarried female adolescents revealed that cognitive capacity and cognitive egocentrism variables, not experience with contraceptives, were significantly related to, and predictive…

Examined sexual activity and contraception among urban, low-income African-American adolescent female clients who were not sexually active (n=50), sexually active/noncontracepting (n=20), or sexually active/contracepting (n=72). Not sexually active group was younger, more career motivated, had father at home, was more influenced by family values,…

Reviews some contraceptive education programs designed for adolescents that differ in educational process based on delivery setting. Reviews school-based, community-based, and college/university-based programs and discusses them in terms of their effectiveness, potential, and limitations. Notes that educational accountability in each setting…

Study examined effects of a partner's insistence on condom use. After first time sex, participants felt more responsible, less at-risk, and less worried when a condom was used. Partners were evaluated as more responsible, more caring, and less likely to have a sexually transmitted disease. Insistence on condom use resulted in less guilt and…

Describes the 1998 Canadian Contraception Study, a mailed survey which asked women about contraceptive practices past, present, and future (including use of oral contraceptives, condoms, and sterilization); familiarity with and opinion about different contraception methods; and general sexual and reproductive health. The paper also examines…

Examines the relationship between barriers to using birth control and actual use of birth control among Mexican American adolescents (N=26,666). Results show that nonusers had significantly higher barrier scores compared with users of birth control. These results indicate that attitudes toward birth control are associated with actual birth control…

Physicians and residents (n=53) at a southeastern rural teaching hospital were surveyed with regard to their counseling of adolescents about sexuality, including abstinence. More than 60% of physicians reported regularly addressing the issues of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), sexually transmitted disease (STD), pregnancy prevention, and…

Poland subscribes to an abstinence-only model of reproductive health education called "Education for Life in the Family." The aim of this study was to determine if the perceptions of adolescent mothers could be used to improve delivery of the Polish model of education. This study was conducted using focus group interviews with fourteen…

This study examined the psychometric properties of a new scale to measure adolescents' worry regarding outcomes of risky sexual behavior (i.e. sexually transmitted infections, including HIV [STI/HIV], and unintended pregnancy). The 10-item worry about sexual outcomes (WASO) scale, resulting in two subscales STI/HIV worry and pregnancy worry, was…

Manuscript considers results of a research study that assesses American Indian university students' factual knowledge, understanding, and perceptions of susceptibility to HIV/AIDS, and relationships between their attitudes and decisions to engage in HIV-risk behaviors. Participants responded to a 57-item scaled survey and several demographic…

Introduction: In the absence of standardised sex education and because schools usually limit their teaching to the "health" aspects of sexuality, young people in Cyprus rely on their peers and the media for information on sexuality. This study examines the sources and adequacy of the information received by young people from various…

Reproductive rights are essential to a woman's full participation in the workplace. Procreative decisions are private ones, and once the door is open to government restrictions it will be hard to close. Prior to 1850, abortion was legal in most states. Not until the professionalization of the medical field did physicians and others seek to…

This document presents materials from a course designed to teach adolescents about teenage pregnancy and parenting. The materials are organized into nine modules, each of which contains instructions on how to use the module; a pre- and post-test on the information presented in the module; a fact finder leaflet of information; and relevant…

The question of why advertisements for contraceptives are not shown on television in the United States is explored in this paper. The statement is made that although television is permeated with sex, network broadcasters steadfastly ban contraceptive advertising from the airways on the grounds that they do not want to alienate or offend viewers.…