In order for adolescents to learn about sex and relationships, the education must be of significance and meet their needs and interests. The study investigated adolescents' conceptions of learning and education about sex and relationships. A phenomenographic approach was used. Six focus group interviews were conducted with adolescents ages 18-19…

Early messages about reproductive and sexual health influence personal identities, health behaviors, and ongoing perceptions of sex and sexuality. Women are often socialized with negatively-valenced messages toward understanding their reproductive and sexual health. However, scholarship emphasizes a communicative approach for socializing intimate…

Adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa encounter high risks associated with sexuality and reproduction, yet face numerous barriers in obtaining appropriate health services and information. Mobile phones provide a unique opportunity to provide youth with this critical sexual and reproductive health information need. Designed from the United Nations…

A greater understanding of how sexual consent is learned may be important in informing interventions to decrease sexual assault and ensure pleasurable sexual experiences. This study explored the role of quality and quantity of perceived sex education in relation to sexual consent attitudes, intentions, and behavior. Greater perceived sex education…

Comprehensive sexuality education (CSE), one of the key evidence-based strategies in our programmatic toolbox to address adolescent pregnancy and birth rates, remains a politically-charged issue countrywide. Though there is some funding available at the federal level, there are no national policies mandating the provision of sex education; as…

It is important to understand how people experience pleasure and sexual satisfaction with a partner, as these phenomena can impact how they view their relationships, themselves, as well as the role of sexual activities within relationships. Three hundred and four undergraduates at East Carolina University and California State University Chico who…

Black gay/bisexual male youth are one of the groups most affected by HIV in the United States, but few behavioral interventions have been created specifically to address this health inequity. Oppression related to these youths' multiple social identities--including racism, heterosexism, and HIV stigma--contribute to increased health risks. Primary…

Little research explores factors shaping those policies and actors involved in state-level sex and labor trafficking prevention. This study examined the organizational, political, and normative dynamics that influenced implementation of Texas House Bill 1272 (HB 1272, 2013), which included educators in trafficking prevention. Part of a larger…

We conducted an online survey to examine religiosity, sexual health knowledge, and behavior and sexual health information sources among undergraduate students affiliated with student religious organizations (n = 45) and unaffiliated students (n = 82). Analyses included Fisher's exact tests, t-tests, and exact regression models. Students reporting…

Despite the counseling field adopting holistic health and developmental frameworks, sexual health is often absent or underrepresented in these discussions. Via content analysis, the authors examined publications in three counseling journals to assess the current state of the sexuality literature in the field. Almost half (46.6%) of publications…

This study replicates and extends research on college students' sexual possible selves by longitudinally examining their sexual expectations, fears, and behavioral strategies at the beginning and end of the first semester in college. Open-ended responses were collected at two time points (T1, N = 78; T2, N = 40) and were analyzed using directed…

Like abortion, contraception, and guns, the debate over sex education policy in the United States is divisive and seems intractable. While ample policy research and analysis have focused on the former issues, less attention has been paid to the latter. This study begins to fill this gap through a thematic analysis of sixteen interviews conducted…

Motivations for bisexual Latino men to have sex have been often overlooked in sexuality education research. This analysis examined the associations between motivations for sex (using the AMORE questionnaire) with a sample of 148 bisexual Latino men. We found that (1) depression was positively associated with sex to relieve stress; (2) machismo was…

There is little knowledge about how sexual minority youth are educated at home about their future sexual selves. To identify the macro level factors that impact these home-based discussions, we interviewed 30 adolescent males who identified as gay, bisexual, or queer. Our findings show that ecological factors sometimes support the inclusion of…

The role and functionality of injunctive norms is an understudied phenomenon within sexual communication processes. Using the theory of normative social behavior (TNSB), the present study examined emergent peer-oriented and authoritative injunctive norms as they relate to the context of parents discussing pornography with adolescent children.…