Sexual health programs on college campuses are often directed toward single individuals with a focus on sexual risk. Using a sample of college students, this study examines how relationship status relates to sexual behaviors and may be a factor for sexual risk. Based on the study's results, expansion of sexual health programming on college…

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends the HPV vaccination for boys and girls starting at age 11, yet adoption rates are low. We use eight focus groups to explore the decision making process, experiences, and social influences, including media and sex education classes, shaping attitudes of male and female college…

Considerable progress has been made in the last three decades in contraceptive technology and the treatment of sexually transmitted infections. However, education of the nation's youth about sexual health issues has been less successful. Most parents remain silent on the topic of sexuality while states argue over the curriculum. As a result, a…

This lesson plan is designed to help students become more aware of how advertisements play a role in shaping societal attitudes about gender and sexuality and how these messages effect their own beliefs. This lesson plan will outline how to effectively accomplish this goal in any course focusing on gender and/or sexuality.

Our study explored the eligibility and willingness of students to participate in a university-wide catch-up Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination program. A total of 1804 electronic surveys (82% response) assessing demographics, HPV knowledge, eligibility, and willingness were gathered. HPV knowledge was moderate, with just over a quarter (26%)…

Ambiguous definitions concerning which behaviors constitute sex, abstinence, and virginity may lead to arbitrary interpretations of meaning or miscommunication, which could be particularly problematic in health care, educational, and research contexts. The purpose of this study was to examine and compare definitions of sex, abstinence, and…

This classroom exercise is designed to facilitate insight and understanding of the relationships between sexual attitudes and sexual experiences among college students. First, students complete a 65-item survey on which they indicate their moderate to traditional sexual attitudes and their corresponding sexual experiences. Next, correlations,…

Although the number of Hispanic women attending postsecondary institutions has significantly increased in the past decade, knowledge about their use of campus health services to address sexuality-related issues remains low. Increased information about this population is crucial given that sexual health indicators have shown Hispanic women in…

Sexual health education often focuses on prevention of sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancies, but the decision to engage in sexual activity is equally important. This cross-sectional study examined the decisions of college students (n = 422) to engage in oral sex, vaginal sex, and other sexual behaviors. Regression analyses…

Web sites about sexual health lack the interactivity, humor, and "viral" nature required to attract young adults. The Midwest Teen Sex Show (www.midwestteensexshow.com) is an interactive, humor-based Web site that provides sexual health information to young adults. One episode from the Web site was shown to six focus groups of young women, ages…

Intimacy can be a complex subject. However, holistic and healthy intimacy exists in many forms and can be achieved not only with a romantic other but also with one's friends, family, professional colleagues, and self. As part of lifespan development, it is ideal to build a knowledge base and skill set to comprehend the multiple facets of intimacy.…

Many HIV/AIDS prevention programs advocate that audiences "be faithful" to their partners to prevent HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, yet beliefs about what exactly constitutes faithfulness and "cheating" are rarely explicitly discussed in relationships. The Cheat-O-Meter is an activity that encourages participants to explore and…

The relationship between love styles and lifetime number of sexual partners was explored using survey data from 507 college students. Love styles significantly (p less than 0.001) contributed to the prediction of number of lifetime sex partners after controlling for demographic characteristics and attitudes toward sexually transmitted infections.…

This exploratory study measured the sexuality education and HIV knowledge, attitudes, and risk behaviors of young adults (n = 410), ages 18-21, who recently graduated from public high schools in a midwestern state. Based on the participants' responses to specific questions, students were placed into one of three groups: students who received no…

Peer sexual health education programs are widespread on college campuses, but little research has assessed the effect of these programs on the peer educators. This study employed a repeated measures design to examine changes over the academic quarter in the knowledge, counseling self-efficacy, and sexual behavior of 70 college students enrolled in…