Problem: Priority health-risk behaviors, which are behaviors that contribute to the leading causes of morbidity and mortality among youth and adults, often are established during childhood and adolescence, extend into adulthood, are interrelated, and are preventable. Reporting Period Covered: January-December 2007. Description of the System: The…

HIV-related behaviors, self-reported using Web-delivered or paper-pencil modes, were collected from two convenience samples of college students at a major university in the southeastern U.S. To enhance the equivalence of the comparisons, a subset pool of participants from each group, proportionally matched on key demographic variables including…

This study evaluates the efficacy of Keepin' It Safe, a theory-based, gender-specific, CD-ROM-mediated HIV prevention program for urban, early adolescent girls. Intervention effects were examined in a randomized, pretest-posttest wait-list control-group design. Changes in HIV/AIDS knowledge, protective attitudes, and skills for reducing HIV…

This paper reports sex education preferences from an ethnically diverse sample of 3007 15-18 year olds. Findings are presented on preferred topics, where and from whom young people would like to receive this information. Preferences were centred around learning more about sexual behaviour and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in particular,…

The AIDS epidemic presents a complex of issues that require global answers, involving entire societies. The only sustainable solution is to include all sectors of society in a multidisciplinary collaboration, within which the formal education system plays a key role in delivering a comprehensive response to the disease at the national level.…

This collection of essays presents a new vision of adolescent sexuality shaped by a variety of social factors: race and ethnicity, gender, sexual identity, physical ability, and cultural messages propagated in films, books, and within families. The book is divided into three parts: (1) Contexts and Theories; (2) Cultures and Communities; and (3)…

Although sexual activity is common among teenagers, it is not as widespread, and does not begin as early, as most adults believe. This report provides detailed data and analysis of sex among adolescents. Adolescent sexual activity is grouped in ten categories: (1) Rites of passage; (2) The context of adolescents' lives; (3) Sex among teenagers;…

Many teenagers engage in behaviors that increase their risk of becoming infected with HIV. This document is a compilation of information about AIDS and HIV Infection, and provides suggestions for parents and other adults in discussing AIDS/HIV with young people. Basic facts are outlined, including what AIDS is and how HIV infection causes AIDS;…

The most important message for young people to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STD) and the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is that refraining from sexual intercourse and alcohol and other drug use is the most effective prevention strategy. Some young people, however, may be unwilling to abstain from sexual activity and/or…

This study investigated the role that emotional factors play in learning about sexual health and in adopting sexually healthy behaviors. Learning about health and adopting healthy behaviors hinges on two variables: the desire to avoid illness and a belief that one can avoid threats to health through personal action. This paper reports on…

The 2-part student workbook for mainstreamed learning and mentally disabled high school students contains 12 units intended to provide supplementary instruction in the Contemporary Parenting Choices Curriculum in the home economics class. This unit, the third in the Relationships part of the workbook, focuses on understanding sexuality with…

This paper describes the Young Adult and Adolescent Decision Making About Contraception program, an ongoing clinical research project designed to address the problem of unplanned adolescent pregnancy from a biopsychosocial perspective. The program is described as a peer-led intervention to promote the use of contraception by teenage girls at high…

Designed to be used by health educators when teaching youths and their parents about the control of veneral disease (syphilis and gonorrhea), this booklet includes the following: (1) a two-page teaching plan consisting of objectives for both youths and adults along with notes on subject matter, methods (including titles of films and printed…

This sequential manual for an educational program to prevent premature parenthood and venereal disease is intended for school personnel responsible for designing and implementing human sexuality programs. Chapter One presents the history and description of Project Teen Concern along with a summary of project evaluations for the past three years.…

Contary to the impression one can derive from the large amount of mass media discussion, sex education is generally still not an integral part of the school curriculum. One of several important reasons for this state of affairs is that adolescents are usually not represented in discussions of the need for sex education. Even when sex education…