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Sex
Books
- The talk: What your kids need to hear from you about sex
Author: Maxwell, S.
Year: 2008
Publisher: Avery TradeABSTRACT: A groundbreaking resource to help jump start an ongoing discussion between parents and teens about sex and sexuality internet chat rooms, boy/girl sleepovers, reality TV...there's more to "the talk" than ever before. Faced with a culture that pushes our kids to be "sexy" before puberty begins, how do we explain the power of sexuality in a way that promotes healthy, age-appropriate behavior?
The Talk is a breakthrough resource for parents and educators that prepares kids for a hypersexualized world and lays the foundation for ethical sexual behavior that can guide our children from elementary school through college. The Talk shows parents how to:
- Set family guidelines for safe internet use
- Address the social power that comes from looking sexy, and the personal responsibility each of us has to use that power appropriately
- Discuss the moral aspects of sexuality in ways teens will understand
- Help children recognize the difference between feelings of sexual desire and love
- Develop principles with our teens that will help them figure out when it's okay to be sexual with someone and when it's not
- Romance and sex in adolescence and emerging adulthood: Risks and opportunities (Penn State University Family Issues Symposia Series)
Author: Crouter, A. C., & Booth, A. (Eds.)
Year: 2005
Publisher: Psychology PressABSTRACT: In this volume, Romance and Sex in Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood: Risks and Opportunities, top scholars in the field of family research examine the nature and origin of adolescents' contemporary patterns of sexual and romantic relationships, spanning such diverse topics as the evolutionary roots of these behaviors, as well as policies and programs that represent best practices for addressing these issues in schools and communities. The text offers interdisciplinary expertise from scholars of psychology, social work, sociology, demography, economics, human development and family studies, and public policy.
- Five hundred questions kids ask about sex and some of the answers: Sex education for parents, teachers, and young people themselves
Author: Younger, F.
Year: 1992
Publisher: Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas Publisher
ABSTRACT: Open communication with kids on the topic of sex and sexuality is so important; this book is a great way to teach them indirectly, or directly — by going through it with them. They'll see that their questions are quite normal, and they'll have solid answers on which to base their behavior.
- Let's talk about sex
Author: Gitchel, S., & Foster, L.
Year: 1985
Publisher: Fresno, CA: Planned Parenthood of Central CaliforniaABSTRACT: Presents ways to promote communication between parents and adolescents about sexuality.
Websites
- International Planned Parenthood Federation
Website
Type: organization
Contact: info@ippf.orgABSTRACT: IPPF aims to improve the quality of life of individuals by providing and campaigning for sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) through advocacy and services, especially for poor and vulnerable people. The Federation defends the right of all people to enjoy sexual lives free from ill health, unwanted pregnancy, violence and discrimination.
IPPF works to ensure that women are not put at unnecessary risk of injury, illness and death as a result of pregnancy and childbirth, and it supports a woman's right to choose to terminate her pregnancy legally and safely. IPPF strives to eliminate sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and to reduce the spread and impact of HIV and AIDS.
- Answer
Website
Type: education
Contact: answered@rci.rutgers.eduABSTRACT: Answer is a national organization that provides and promotes unfettered access to comprehensive sexuality education for young people and the adults who teach them.
- Sex, etc.
Website
Organization: Answer (sex ed, honestly)
Type: organizationABSTRACT: Sex, etc. is on a mission to improve teen sexual health across the country. This website has information and resources written by teens answering questions about sex, relationships, pregnancy, STDs, birth control, sexual orientation, and more. The site also contains links to resources for parents and professionals.
- Coalition for Positive Sexuality
Website
Organization: Coalition for Positive Sexuality
Type: organization
Contact: http://www.positive.org/Home/contact-us.htmlABSTRACT: The Coalition for Positive Sexuality is a grassroots direct-action volunteer group. The purpose of the website is to give teens the information they need to take care of themselves and facilitate dialogue in and out of the public schools on condom availability and sex education.
- International Planned Parenthood Federation
Website
Type of Site: organization
Contact: IPPF, Regent's College, Inner Circle, Regent's Park, London NW1 4NS United Kingdom Telephone: +44 (0)20 7487 7900 Fax: +44 (0)20 7487 7950; info@ippf.org
ABSTRACT: The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) links national autonomous Family Planning Associations (FPAs) in over 180 countries worldwide. It is registered as a charity in the United Kingdom and is the largest voluntary organization in the world to be concerned with family planning and sexual and reproductive health. IPPF and its member Associations are committed to promoting the right of women and men to decide freely the number and spacing of their children and the right to the highest possible level of sexual and reproductive health. They believe that the balance between the world's population and its natural resources and productivity is a necessary condition for improving the quality of life on the planet.
Journal Articles
- How can parents make a difference? Longitudinal associations with adolescent sexual behavior.
Author: Deptula, D. P., Henry, D. B., & Schoeny, M. E.
Year: 2010
Journal: Journal of Family Psychology, Volume 24, Issue 6
Page: 731-739ABSTRACT: Parents have the potential to protect against adolescent sexual risk, including early sexual behavior, inconsistent condom use, and outcomes such as pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Identification of the specific parenting dimensions associated with sexual risk in adolescence and young adulthood is necessary to inform and focus prevention efforts. The current study examined the relation of proximal (e.g., discussions of sexual costs) and distal (e.g., parental involvement, relationship quality) parenting variables with concurrent and longitudinal adolescent sexual behavior. The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) provided a nationally representative sample with information about the family using adolescent and parent informants. Longitudinal information about sexual risk included adolescent condom use and adolescent sexual initiation, as well as young adult unintended pregnancy, reports of STIs, and biological assay results for three STIs. Higher parent-adolescent relationship quality was associated with lower levels of adolescent unprotected intercourse and intercourse initiation. Better relationship quality was also associated with lower levels of young adult STIs, even when accounting for prior sexual activity. Unexpectedly, more parent reports of communication regarding the risks associated with sexual activity were negatively associated with condom use and greater likelihood of sexual initiation. These results demonstrate that parents play an important role, both positive and negative, in sexual behavior, which extends to young adulthood, and underscores the value of family interventions in sexual risk prevention.
- Connectedness as a predictor of sexual and reproductive health outcomes for youth
Author: Markham, C. M., Lormand, D., Gloppen, K. M., Peskin, M. F., et al.
Year: 2010
Journal: Journal of Adolescent Health, Volume 45, Issue 3, Supplement
Page: S23-S41ABSTRACT: To review research examining the influence of "connectedness" on adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH). Connectedness, or bonding, refers to the emotional attachment and commitment a child makes to social relationships in the family, peer group, school, community, or culture. A systematic review of behavioral research (1985-2007) was conducted. Inclusion criteria included examination of the association between a connectedness sub-construct and an ASRH outcome, use of multivariate analyses, sample size of ≥100, and publication in a peer-reviewed journal. Results were coded as protective, risk, or no association, and as longitudinal, or cross sectional. Findings from at least two longitudinal studies for a given outcome with consistent associations were considered sufficient evidence for a protective or risk association. Eight connectedness sub-constructs were reviewed: family connectedness (90 studies), parent-adolescent general communication (16 studies), parent-adolescent sexuality communication (58 studies), parental monitoring (61 studies), peer connectedness (nine studies), partner connectedness (12 studies), school connectedness (18 studies), and community connectedness (four studies). There was sufficient evidence to support a protective association with ASRH outcomes for family connectedness, general and sexuality-specific parent-adolescent communication, parental monitoring, partner connectedness, and school connectedness. Sufficient evidence of a risk association was identified for the parent overcontrol sub-construct of parental monitoring. Connectedness can be a protective factor for ASRH outcomes, and efforts to strengthen young people's pro-social relationships are a promising target for approaches to promote ASRH. Further study regarding specific sub-constructs as well as their combined influence is needed.
- Adolescent perceptions of maternal approval of birth control and sexual risk behavior
Author: Jaccard, J., & Dittus, P. J.
Year: 2000
Journal: American Journal of Public Health Volume: 90
Page: 1426-1430ABSTRACT: Examined the relationship between adolescent perceptions of maternal approval of the use of birth control (BC) and sexual outcomes across a 12-mo period. A subsample of the Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health database was used in the context of a prospective design. Approximately 10,000 students in grades 7 to 11 were interviewed twice, 1 yr apart. Adolescent perceptions of maternal approval of BC were associated with an increased likelihood of sexual intercourse over the next 12 mo for virgins at 1st interview. The perceptions also were related to an increase in BC use but showed an ambiguous relation to the probability of pregnancy. High relationship satisfaction between adolescents and mothers was associated with a higher probability of BC use and a lower probability of both sexual intercourse and pregnancy. Results suggest that perceived parental approval of BC may increase the probability of sexual activity in some adolescents.
- Unwanted sexual activity among peers during early and middle adolescence: Incidence and risk factors
Year: 1993
Journal: Journal of Marriage & the Family Assessed incidence and risk factors of unwanted sexual activity initiated by peers for 1,149 adolescent females. Twenty percent of sample reported some type of unwanted sexual contact in past year. Over one-third of this group reported having been forced to have sexual intercourse. Boyfriends were most commonly reported perpetrators followed by dates, friends, and acquaintances. Volume: 55
Page: 941-952
ABSTRACT: Assessed incidence and risk factors of unwanted sexual activity initiated by peers for 1,149 adolescent females. Twenty percent of sample reported some type of unwanted sexual contact in past year. Over one-third of this group reported having been forced to have sexual intercourse. Boyfriends were most commonly reported perpetrators followed by dates, friends, and acquaintances.
