Adolescent School-Based Sex Education: Using Developmental Neuroscience to Guide New Directions for Policy and Practice

While school-based sex education is one of the key program and policy solutions to improve adolescent sexual health outcomes, new efforts are needed to strengthen its overall impact. The cognitive, hormonal, emotional, and physical changes that accompany the onset of puberty and occur throughout the teenage years play a significant role in aspects of adolescent sexual risk taking. Thus, one approach to advancing current understanding of these complex issues is to leverage emerging knowledge in developmental affective neuroscience over the past 15 years, which suggests some potentially promising innovations that may inform new educational directions to improve adolescent sexual health. Exploring the conceptual and empirical advances in understanding adolescent brain development through the lens of the conceptualization, implementation, and evaluation of sex education, this article provides new perspectives that encourage the testing of innovative approaches to sex education policy and practice. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York

Adolescent school-based sex education: Using developmental neuroscience to guide new directions for policy and practice

While school-based sex education is one of the key program and policy solutions to improve adolescent sexual health outcomes, new efforts are needed to strengthen its overall impact. The cognitive, hormonal, emotional, and physical changes that accompany the onset of puberty and occur throughout the teenage years play a significant role in aspects of adolescent sexual risk taking. Thus, one approach to advancing current understanding of these complex issues is to leverage emerging knowledge in developmental affective neuroscience over the past 15 years, which suggests some potentially promising innovations that may inform new educational directions to improve adolescent sexual health. Exploring the conceptual and empirical advances in understanding adolescent brain development through the lens of the conceptualization, implementation, and evaluation of sex education, this article provides new perspectives that encourage the testing of innovative approaches to sex education policy and practice. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York

Adolescent school-based sex education: Using developmental neuroscience to guide new directions for policy and practice

While school-based sex education is one of the key program and policy solutions to improve adolescent sexual health outcomes, new efforts are needed to strengthen its overall impact. The cognitive, hormonal, emotional, and physical changes that accompany the onset of puberty and occur throughout the teenage years play a significant role in aspects of adolescent sexual risk taking. Thus, one approach to advancing current understanding of these complex issues is to leverage emerging knowledge in developmental affective neuroscience over the past 15 years, which suggests some potentially promising innovations that may inform new educational directions to improve adolescent sexual health. Exploring the conceptual and empirical advances in understanding adolescent brain development through the lens of the conceptualization, implementation, and evaluation of sex education, this article provides new perspectives that encourage the testing of innovative approaches to sex education policy and practice. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York

Readability of Educational Materials to Support Parent Sexual Communication With Their Children and Adolescents.

Sexual communication is a principal means of transmitting sexual values, expectations, and knowledge from parents to their children and adolescents. Many parents seek information and guidance to support talking with their children about sex and sexuality. Parent education materials can deliver this guidance but must use appropriate readability levels to facilitate comprehension and motivation. This study appraised the readability of educational materials to support parent sexual communication with their children. Fifty brochures, pamphlets, and booklets were analyzed using the Flesch-Kincaid, Gunning Fog, and Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG) index methods. Mean readability grade-level scores were 8.3 (range = 4.5-12.8), 9.7 (range = 5.5-14.9), and 10.1 (range = 6.7-13.9), respectively. Informed by National Institutes of Health-recommended 6th to 7th grade levels and American Medical Association-recommended 5th to 6th grade levels, percentages falling at or below the 7.0 grade level were calculated as 38%, 12%, and 2% and those falling at or below the 6.0 grade level were calculated as 12%, 2%, and 0% based on the Flesch-Kincaid, Gunning Fog, and SMOG methods, respectively. These analyses indicate that the majority of educational materials available online to support parents' communication with their children about sex and sexuality do not meet the needs of many or most parents. Efforts to improve the accessibility of these materials are warranted

Readability of Educational Materials to Support Parent Sexual Communication With Their Children and Adolescents.

Sexual communication is a principal means of transmitting sexual values, expectations, and knowledge from parents to their children and adolescents. Many parents seek information and guidance to support talking with their children about sex and sexuality. Parent education materials can deliver this guidance but must use appropriate readability levels to facilitate comprehension and motivation. This study appraised the readability of educational materials to support parent sexual communication with their children. Fifty brochures, pamphlets, and booklets were analyzed using the Flesch-Kincaid, Gunning Fog, and Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG) index methods. Mean readability grade-level scores were 8.3 (range = 4.5-12.8), 9.7 (range = 5.5-14.9), and 10.1 (range = 6.7-13.9), respectively. Informed by National Institutes of Health-recommended 6th to 7th grade levels and American Medical Association-recommended 5th to 6th grade levels, percentages falling at or below the 7.0 grade level were calculated as 38%, 12%, and 2% and those falling at or below the 6.0 grade level were calculated as 12%, 2%, and 0% based on the Flesch-Kincaid, Gunning Fog, and SMOG methods, respectively. These analyses indicate that the majority of educational materials available online to support parents' communication with their children about sex and sexuality do not meet the needs of many or most parents. Efforts to improve the accessibility of these materials are warranted

School-Based Sex Education and Neuroscience: What We Know About Sex, Romance, Marriage, and Adolescent Brain Development.

BackgroundMany school-based abstinence-only sex education curricula state that sexual activity outside of marriage is likely to have harmful psychological effects. Recent advances in neuroscience have expanded our understanding of the neural underpinnings of romantic love, marriage, sexual desire, and sexual behavior and improved our understanding of adolescent brain development.MethodsIn this article, we review recent advances in neuroscience and clarify what is known about the link between neural development and adolescent romantic and sexual behavior and what opportunities exist for future research.ResultsWhereas the evidence from neuroscience does not yet allow for clear conclusions about the cost or benefits of early romantic relationships and sexual behavior, it does indicate that providing developmentally appropriate education contributes to lifelong sexual health.ConclusionsDeveloping policies and practices for school-based sex education that reflect current research will best support the sexual and reproductive health of adolescents throughout their lives

Research in the Integration of Behavioral Health for Adolescents and Young Adults in Primary Care Settings: A Systematic Review.

Despite the recognition that behavioral and medical health conditions are frequently intertwined, the existing health care system divides management for these issues into separate settings. This separation results in increased barriers to receipt of care and contributes to problems of underdetection, inappropriate diagnosis, and lack of treatment engagement. Adolescents and young adults with mental health conditions have some of the lowest rates of treatment for their conditions of all age groups. Integration of behavioral health into primary care settings has the potential to address these barriers and improve outcomes for adolescents and young adults. In this paper, we review the current research literature for behavioral health integration in the adolescent and young adult population and make recommendations for needed research to move the field forward

Research in the Integration of Behavioral Health for Adolescents and Young Adults in Primary Care Settings: A Systematic Review.

Despite the recognition that behavioral and medical health conditions are frequently intertwined, the existing health care system divides management for these issues into separate settings. This separation results in increased barriers to receipt of care and contributes to problems of underdetection, inappropriate diagnosis, and lack of treatment engagement. Adolescents and young adults with mental health conditions have some of the lowest rates of treatment for their conditions of all age groups. Integration of behavioral health into primary care settings has the potential to address these barriers and improve outcomes for adolescents and young adults. In this paper, we review the current research literature for behavioral health integration in the adolescent and young adult population and make recommendations for needed research to move the field forward