Background: Previous research underscores the importance of psychosexual guidance for adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Such guidance is provided in the Tackling Teenage Training (TTT) program, in which adolescents with ASD receive psycho-education and practice communicative skills regarding topics related to puberty, sexuality, and…

A systematic literature review was conducted to assess the utility of Positive Youth Development (PYD) concepts in promoting positive sexual health behaviors in young minority adolescents (n = 12 studies). Interventions reported significant associations between PYD-focused interventions and ever having sex, sexual partners in the last 30 days,…

Experiencing puberty earlier than one's peers has been linked with behavioral and academic problems in school, particularly among girls. Previously, we reported that practicing elementary school teachers expect girls who develop early to have more academic and social problems in the future, with girls' race exacerbating these effects (Carter et…

Menarche is the first menstrual period as one of the sign of puberty. There are many factors may affect the age at menarche such as nutritional status, genetic, environmental conditions, socioeconomic status, and education. The purpose of this research is to determine the relationship between nutritional status and age of menarche on female…

Basic knowledge of human reproduction can help youth prepare for puberty and make later classes focused on advanced reproductive health topics manageable. With the intention of potentially informing the creation of learning materials, we conducted a needs assessment among children ages 7 to 12 in our suburban Chicago community to ascertain their…

The developmental significance of youths' racial identities during adolescence is well established. It is less clear how puberty, a normative process, influences the relationship between racial identity and adjustment outcomes during adolescence. This study examined whether puberty moderates the relationship between racial identity dimensions and…

Youth in Western countries are exposed to many messages that sexualize women. We selectively review the literature on sexualization with the goal of clarifying and integrating theories, constructs, and models of the pathways and mechanisms via which exposure to such messages may affect youth. In the first section of the article, we define…

Physical activity may benefit mental health, yet the potentially protective role of elementary school physical education (PE) on childhood mental health is unknown. The aim of the current study was to determine the effect of a specialist-taught PE program on indicators of childhood mental health. In this cluster-randomized controlled trial,…

Objective: Internet-based health promotion offers a promising approach to fostering healthy sexual behaviour among adolescents. The objective of this study was to identify the potential of an Internet-based programme to improve sexual and reproductive health (SRH) knowledge among Malaysian young people. Design: A pre-test/post-test design was used…

During adolescence, students experience a variety of biological changes in their bodies and brains. This Alliance for Excellent Education report argues that by understanding these changes--as well as the science behind student learning and development--education leaders can take advantage of this second critical window of development to support…

In this study, we tested two competing explanations of the previously established link between early female puberty and sexual harassment in early adolescence. The sample included 680 seventh-grade Swedish girls (M[subscript age] = 13.40, SD = 0.53). Findings revealed that looking more sexually mature and being sexually active mediated the link…

This article reports analysis of interviews with 85 boys from England, Greece, Ireland and Spain about the voice change, school singing and choral music instruction. Consistent, former and self-described non-singers were included. Data suggest consistency with much of the existing narrative literature about the experience of voice change. Unique…

Adolescents may especially need social and emotional help. They are learning how to handle new demands in school and social life while dealing with new, intense emotions (both positive and negative), and they are increasingly feeling that they should do so without adult guidance. Social and emotional learning (SEL) programs are one way to help…

This paper analyses some contemporary educational contexts that teachers should consider for their puberty education programmes and/or curricula, for primary and secondary school students. The educational contexts addressed here include significant international puberty education framework documents, socio-biological factors including earlier…

Mobile applications ("apps") designed for sexual health education have the potential to reach teens and young adults that are hard to reach through traditional platforms; however, little is known about availability of these apps and their adherence to existing guidelines. Following a search on the two major app stores, data from 2,693…