Back to basics: how young mothers learn about sex and sexuality

Adolescent pregnancy continues to be a major concern for policy-makers, programme developers, helping professionals and society generally in the USA, especially in light of the US federal government's legislative emphasis on abstinence-only sex education until recently. Studies have found that abstinence-only programmes do not succeed in preventing young people from becoming sexually active or pregnant; most young people have sexual intercourse in their teenage years long before they even contemplate marriage. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how 32 teenage mothers learned about sex and their related views about pregnancy and birth control. Findings indicate that they have often received little accurate information about sex from their parents and schools. Findings also reveal their widely varying views about birth control and pregnancy. Overall, the findings support the need for comprehensive sexuality education that addresses the topics covered in this study in an age-appropriate manner. The findings also suggest ways that helping professionals in other settings besides schools can help young people address these issues.     

Young people’s perceptions of advice about sexual risk taking

Sexual and reproductive health indicators for young people in the USA have improved in recent decades, but teenage pregnancies remain high, and large differences between Whites and non-Whites persist in teenage births, abortions, and the acquisition of sexually transmitted infections. Prior research shows that young people are receptive to communication about sex from parents and friends, but peers have been found to be more influential on sexual risk taking. In this study of 617 young people aged 13–20 years in high-risk neighbourhoods for teenage pregnancy in New Jersey, we asked whether sexually inexperienced young people differed from sexually experienced young people in their level of receptivity to the recommendations from their parents, friends, and others about whether to have sex before marriage and whether to use a condom if sexually active. The results showed that the sexually inexperienced were more receptive to messages from figures of authority in their life than those sexually experienced. We also found that stronger message intensity from parents, friends, and others to delay sex until marriage and to use a condom if sexually active was associated with lower sexual intentions in the next six months and the use of a condom if sexually active in the last three months.     

Parent and family influences on young women's romantic and sexual decisions

Parents can play an important role in reducing their children's risk for teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, and in promoting sexual health during adolescence. The purpose of this study was to explore communication between parents, family members and young people and how it influences their romantic and sexual behaviours. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 28 African American, American Indian, Euro-American and Latina women aged 19–29 years. Findings clustered into five themes. First, mothers were often the primary source of reproductive education. Second, fathers provided valuable guidance, although they were not the first source of information. Third, parental expectations influenced young people's sexual behaviours both positively and negatively. Fourth, aunts, uncles and grandparents were trusted sources of advice for personal discussions. Fifth, over one-third of participants perceived that there was no adult available to them during their teenage years for discussions about romance. Sex educators can encourage and guide parents to discuss romantic and sexual issues with young people as a way to support their young people's healthy sexual and romantic behaviours. Health and sex educators should also identify young people lacking support and encourage stronger relationships with family including fathers and extended family members.     

Teen pregnancy prevention: a rural model using school and community collaboration

From 1980 to 1989 there were 2069 babies born to teenage mothers in northeastern Connecticut, accounting for more than 10% of all births in this region. A Connecticut model program that combats teen pregnancy and emphasizes a collaborative venture between a state-funded community-based pregnancy prevention program and a regional vocational-technical high school located in a rural setting is described. Beginning in the fall of 1987, a group of local providers and concerned citizens formed a steering committee which was given funding to initiate services in early 1988. The objectives of the Northeast Connecticut Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program were (a) to enhance the capacity of parents to prevent teen pregnancy, (b) to increase public education concerning the prevention of teenage pregnancy, (c) to increase the coordinated planning of teen pregnancy prevention resources, and (d) to mobilize additional teen pregnancy prevention resources. At the regional vocational-technical high school in rural north eastern Connecticut a pregnancy prevention program for students in grades 9 through 12 was designed called Contemporary Life Issues Clinic (CLIC). This voluntary experiential program lasted 8 weeks for male and female students. Each week, one session operated during regular school hours. Students preregistered for each week's activity or clinic in the guidance office. CLIC's consisted of eight topics with accompanying activities aimed at improving sexual responsibility; increasing the decision-making skills of students; encouraging the development of coping skills; fostering emotional growth; cultivating success-oriented attitudes; providing information in pregnancy prevention, sexually transmitted disease including AIDS; and providing information regarding the financial and legal implications of parenthood. During the fall of 1990, CLIC had 98 participants. The majority of the students were young women. The most heavily attended session dealt with contraception; the fewest participants attended the session devoted to sexually transmitted diseases. CLIC has the potential for expansion and improvement.     

Latin American immigrant women and intergenerational sex education

People of Latin American descent make up the largest and fastest-growing minority group in the USA. Rates of pregnancy, childbirth, and sexually transmitted infections among people of Latin American descent are higher than among other ethnic groups. This paper builds on research that suggests that among families of Latin American descent, mothers have a particularly strong influence on the sexual attitudes and behaviours of their children, yet that parents of Latin American descent communicate less with their children about sex than parents of other ethnic groups. It examines the messages about sex women received as children in their countries of origin, and how these messages and their views of the USA influence the sexual education women provide for their children. On the basis of data from focus groups, we suggest that, in spite of the persistence of sexual silence, some women's self-reflective analyses of their own sexual education as well as their views of the USA as a sexually more open society contribute to their views of silence as dangerous and trigger more open communication with sons and daughters. Mothers hope to break the cycle of unwanted pregnancy by speaking with daughters about the consequences of menstruation and with sons about contraception.     

School-based model for preventing teenage pregnancy

Social workers in the schools can take positive and immediate action to address teenage pregnancy through the use of interventive models that help teenagers avoid the risk of unwanted pregnancy. The present article describes and empirically supports 1 such school-based model. The author 1st delineates the major problems associated with teenage pregnancy and then relates the preventive model to prior research and details its implementation in school settings. A discussion of reslults from the model's field evaluation is followed with implications for school social workers. The model reported here is directed to all adolescents rather than focusing on a "high-risk" population. The risk of pregnancy is assumed to be a normal part of adolescent development. Grounded in an intterpersonal conceptualization of teenage pregnancy and in related empirical research, the school-based model helps young men and women acquire the requisite skills for preventing unwanted pregnancy. The program requires school social workers to meet with 12-18 teenage students of both sexes and to provide them with basic information on human sexuality, reproduction and contraception. These topics are covered by lectures, demostrations, discussion and audiovisual presentations. Through instruction, feedback and reinforcement, student learn how to talk about sensitive topics, stand up for their rights and be convincing and effective when carrying out decisions. Homework assignments are designed to develop the students'skills in interactions with dating partners, parents and friends. The clinical applicability and effectiveness of this prevention training model is documented through a study conducted in an urban high school. 36 informed and consenting sophomores of both sexes were randomly assigned either to an interventive group or to a non-treatment control group. Compared to the latter, the former had more accurate knowledge of human reproduction and contraception after the intervention. Buttressing these and other positive results, the students' enthusiastic feedback left little doubt that they enjoyed the group process and were interested in the training. Moreover, analyses of follow-up data on coital activity, the use of contraceptives, and family planning decisions revealed that the training had produced striking effects. Decision making tests, behavioral performance tests, follow-up questionnaires and videotaping of behavior during stressful interpersonal situations were among the evaluation techniques used.     

Youth Perspectives on Parental Career Influence

The role of parents in youth career development is generally acknowledged though, often, perfunctorily. This inquiry examines youth perceptions of parental influence on their career development. We ask young men and women about specific career development attitudes and behaviors that bear on their relations with their parents. The sample consists of survey data from 362 high school juniors. The results confirm the trend of recent studies that report compatibility between parent and youth values, aspirations, and plans. Of all the people to whom youth can turn for help with making career plans, most look to their mothers. The findings apply across gender, to young men as well as young women; and they apply across race, to minority youth as well as majority-culture youth. The results underscore the importance of parents as allies and resources for career counselors in facilitating youth career development.     

Romantic relationships: an important context for HIV/STI and pregnancy prevention programmes with young people

Romantic relationships are central in the lives of young people. This paper uses data on romantic relationships from urban youth in the USA to illustrate how using a relationships perspective in HIV/STI and pregnancy prevention programmes broadens the skills and content covered, and contextualises the learning to enhance relevance and use. Self-report survey data were collected using electronic handheld devices for a school-based randomised trial. The survey sample includes 911 young people (mean age = 12.4 years) representative of their schools. Logistic regressions explored associations between selected sexual behaviours and relationship characteristics. For all participants, having more boy/girlfriends, dating alone, ever touching and ever having had oral sex were associated with an increased likelihood of having vaginal sex. Among young people with current partners, having a partner three or more years older, length of relationship and ever having oral sex were associated with an increased likelihood of having vaginal sex. The study data confirm the importance of accounting for relationships in sexual risk reduction programmes, and provide avenues for enhancing the relevancy of typical school-based prevention programmes.     

Teenage Pregnancy and Sex and Relationship Education: Myths and (mis)Conceptions

This paper explores the role of sex and relationship education (SRE) in reducing teenage pregnancy rates. It critically examines some of the assumptions underlying the emphasis placed on SRE within the teenage pregnancy strategy ( SEU, 1999 ) – in particular, the view that ignorance of sexual matters plays a key part in teenage conception. An analysis of these assumptions is used to explore the reasons why the research evidence on the efficacy of sex education in changing adolescent sexual behaviour is mixed. Attention is drawn to the wider contexts within which adolescent sexual behaviour occurs – and the wider contexts within which schools are operating to provide SRE. Also highlighted are suggestions from the literature about what young people want from sex education and the possible implications for reducing teenage pregnancy. The paper concludes that although important, SRE, on its own, is unlikely to be the panacea sought by politicians to reduce the incidence of teenage pregnancy in the United Kingdom.     

A participatory action research approach to developing youth-friendly strategies for the prevention of teenage pregnancy

Teenage pregnancy among school-going youth is a concern worldwide, but in socially–economically challenged environments it is a result of, and contributory factor to, a complex web of social injustice. In South Africa, most of the school-based prevention interventions to date have been adult-designed and imparted, with the voice of the target audience – the youth – being ignored. The purpose of this participatory action research study was to involve school-going youth in the research and development of prevention interventions, tailored to meet their perceived needs. This article focuses on the first cycle where 24 high school participants interrogated their own and their peers’ narratives about teenage pregnancy so as to determine a way forward. Findings indicate that, although the youth perceive parenthood while they are still studying to have a negative impact on their future life goals, the prevention messages mediated by educators and other adults do not take into consideration the needs and lifestyle of teenagers within their specific social context. The implications of the three themes which emerged from the thematic analysis of the interviews, open-ended questionnaires and visual data are discussed to provide guidelines for the design of more youth-friendly prevention education to inform the next cycle of the research. Since teenage pregnancy is a global problem, the findings of this study have international relevance.     

Get Your Freak on: How black girls sexualise identity

Despite reported increasing levels of teenage pregnancy, and sexually transmitted infection among African-Caribbean young people in the UK, young Black women express sexual identities that are both over- and non-sexualised and exclude themselves from reference to sexual desire and experience. This article will argue that through engaging in complex processes of denigrating the sexual activity of other peers, young Black women attempt to portray themselves as sexually respectable. In doing so, they become entangled in the tensions created by such positions within school-based discourses of heterosexism. This discussion will explore the processes and implications of hiding/silencing Black female sexuality both for the emerging identities of Black girls and the sex educational discourses which attempt to engage with them.     

Teen pregnancy. Why it remains a serious social,economic, and educational problem in the U.S

Although there are fewer teenage pregnancies in the US today than was the case prior to 1970, this fact should not be used to claim that the problem of adolescent pregnancy has been exaggerated. In the earlier period, the majority of adolescent pregnancies were to married couples; moreover, early childbearing was a social norm. In the present period, the availability of effective contraception and legal abortion has enabled women to postpone marriage and childbearing into their late twenties or early thirties and to focus instead on education that enhances their marketability and wages. Under prevailing social norms, teen pregnancy represents a clear deviation. By 1990, 68% of births to women under 20 years of age involved unmarried mothers. Under current socioeconomic conditions, unmarried adolescent mothers are likely to live in poverty and their offspring are at high risk of learning disabilities, child abuse, and foster care placements. Although young people are bombarded with images of sexuality in the mass media, school-based sex education programs tend to promote abstinence and withhold information on or access to contraception. It is essential that material on human sexuality is integrated into the curriculum as early as kindergarten if the teen pregnancy rate and the intergenerational transmission of early childbearing under conditions of poverty are to be reduced.     

Supporting Two Households: Unaccompanied Mexican Minors and Their Absences From U.S. Schools

This article illustrates simultaneous household participation in the lives of undocumented, unaccompanied Mexican teenage minors in New York City and its impact on their school attendance. Emigrating without parents, some Mexican youths arrive to enter into the labor market, not school. Unable to assume monetary dependence, these youths’ absences from New York classrooms is driven by financial participation in their natal households in Mexico and current New York City households. Drawing from fifty-three interviews with Mexican teenagers in Mexico and New York City, this article explores how these youth laborers learn to, understand and fulfill monetary obligations to two households.     

Young people's views of multi‐agency working

This article outlines the findings from an Economic and Social Research Council funded research project that investigated the impact of multi‐agency working on children and their families. It explored the ways in which young people experience multi‐agency working and it investigated whether young people perceive any benefits from a coordinated approach to frontline service delivery. The in‐depth, qualitative study focused on a cross‐section of five local authorities and collected data through semi‐structured interviews with young people and their parents. The study found that where multi‐agency working is effectively integrated and where different professional services are streamlined, there is evidence of a positive impact on young people and their families.     

The role of acculturation in explaining ethnic differences in the prenatal health-risk behaviors, mental health, and parenting beliefs of Mexican American and European American at-risk women

OBJECTIVE: To assess: (1) ethnic differences in the health-risk behaviors, mental health problems, and adverse parenting beliefs during pregnancy of low-income Mexican American and European American women; and, (2) the extent to which these risks varied with levels of acculturation among low-income Mexican American women. METHOD: Participants were 594 primiparous, low-income, urban women. A cross-sectional design was used to compare the 331 Mexican American women to the 263 European American. Language was used to assess the level of acculturation of the Mexican American women. Interviews were used to evaluate health-risk behaviors, mental health problems, and adverse parenting beliefs. RESULTS: In comparison to European American women, Mexican American women were at lower risk for cigarette smoking during pregnancy and higher risk for adverse parenting beliefs. Among Mexican American women, Spanish speakers were at lower risk for cigarette smoking and mental health problems during pregnancy, and higher risk for adverse parenting beliefs than bilingual and English speakers. CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicate that ethnic differences in cigarette smoking and parenting beliefs during pregnancy were concentrated on the less acculturated, low-income, and primarily unmarried Spanish speaking Mexican American women. Moreover, acculturation is differentially related to cigarette smoking and parenting beliefs. Therefore, acculturation needs to be considered in the development of preventive interventions in order to appropriately target the specific needs of different sub-populations of Mexican Americans.     

The prevalence of childhood victimization experienced outside of the family: Findings from an English prevalence study

There has been little research carried out in the United Kingdom (UK) aimed at providing a holistic exploration of the victim experiences of young people within the school and community environments (extrafamilial victimization). This study therefore examined the prevalence of 24 different types of extrafamilial victimization experienced by a sample of 730 young people, aged 13–16 years (mean 13.8 years), from one county in the UK. The findings show that the vast majority of young people experienced some form of extrafamilial victimization over their lifetime (84.1%) and past year (67.2%). Looking at individual categories of victimization experienced over the lifetime, 7 out of 10 young people witnessed or experienced indirect victimization, 1 in 3 experienced property victimization, more than 1 in 4 physical victimization, almost 1 in 2 experienced bullying, 1 in 28 dating violence and 1 in 7 experienced sexual victimization. The findings also suggest that victimization is not an isolated event; participants experienced an average 2.8 different types of victimization across their lifetime. These research findings are compared to those from national victimization surveys in the USA and UK to compile a picture of the victimization prevalence rates across studies. The findings highlight the importance of adopting a holistic approach to the exploration of extrafamilial victimization in future research, assessment of victim experiences, and prevention of extrafamilial victimization.     

Self‐awareness in Young Adults with Down Syndrome: II. Self‐understanding

This study explored the self‐understanding of 77 young people with Down syndrome aged from 17 to 24 years, with verbal mental ages ranging from less than 2 years 6 months to 12 years 4 months. The aim was to determine whether the self‐understanding of these young people followed a typical developmental pathway, whether they were making social comparisons to others, and if these comparisons were downward, upward or lateral. The data came from interviews with the young people and with their parents. Results confirmed the typical developmental progression in so far as relative comparisons to others were only made by those with significantly higher mental ages. These young people made more downward than upward comparisons, whereas parents largely referred to lateral comparisons. This again is similar to findings with people in general who tend to maintain their self‐esteem by making downward comparisons. Aspirations were age appropriate, albeit with relatively low levels of cognitive understanding. Reference groups predominantly consisted of families and other young people with intellectual disabilities.     

Sexuality education: findings and recommendations from an analysis of 10 United States programmes

In this study, we identified 10 sexuality education programmes from different locations in the USA that aim to give young people knowledge and skills to develop healthy relationships, as well as avoid pregnancy and disease. We conducted in-depth interviews with programme administrators to develop a series of case studies and provide concrete recommendations for education and public health professionals to implement similar approaches in their communities. Many programme administrators succeeded in developing partnerships, adapting existing curricula to suit their environments, engaging external evaluators and garnering support from teachers and parents. However, few programme developers conducted formal needs assessments before developing programmes and many struggled to implement curricula with fidelity and to employ rigorous evaluation designs. Nearly all participants identified concerns over funding as a threat to sustainability. We conclude that schools and organisations need technical assistance to build capacity for rigorous programme planning, implementation and evaluation, as well as additional funding streams to support emerging programmes.     

Teenage childbearing,marital status,and depressive symptoms in later life

This study examined the role of prechildbearing characteristics in later-life depressive symptomatology among 990 married and unmarried teenage childbearers. Data from teenagers in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79) were used to test the relative contribution of age and marital status at first birth to depressive symptomatology measured during young adulthood (ages 27-29). Unmarried teenage childbearers displayed higher levels of depressive symptoms in young adulthood than did women who first give birth as married adults. However, the psychological health of married teenage mothers in later life was as good as that of married adult mothers, whereas unmarried adult mothers and unmarried teenage mothers had similarly poor outcomes. The findings of this study suggest that marital status, rather than age at first birth, may be more relevant for later-life psychological health.