Teen prevention of sex summary of past paper - Essay Example

Teen Sex Prevention: Summary My paper analysed three journal articles investigating the effectiveness of sex prevention programs. The first of thesejournal articles involved a study conducted by Wight, Raab, Abraham, Hart and Scott (2002). The study was conducted in the UK and compared the effectiveness of a sex prevention program with the practice of merely providing traditional sex education classroom instructions. The sex prevention program involved role playing, interactive video programs and the distribution of sexual health leaflets among participants.

The study involved a sample of 8430 students between the ages of 13 and 15 in Scottish schools. The students were divided into two groups with one group participating in the sex prevention program and the other group merely exposed to traditional sex education. A questionnaire was distributed to the participants two years after completion of the program and following the conclusion of the sex education lessons at school. The results of the study indicated that the patterns of sexual conduct was vastly the same as between students of the different groups.

The only difference in sexual conduct was observed between students who had subsequently dropped out of school and those who had not. In this regard, students who left school engaged in more risky sexual behavior than those who remained in school. The second journal article reviews was written by Sellars, McGraw and McKinlay (1994). In this article, the authors reported on a study in which the assumption that free access to condoms increased sexual promiscuity among teens was tested. The study was conducted with 536 Latinos between the ages of 14 and 20.

The subjects were divided into two groups: one group had liberal access to condoms and the other group had normal access to condoms. The research study began by obtaining baseline information from the subjects with a follow-up interview three months later. The study conducted by Sellars (1994) revealed that 80% of all participants reported sexual contact after providing the baseline information. Sexual activities among females in both groups showed no appreciable differences, although frequency was higher for females in the group with normal access to condoms.

Sexual activities among females in the group with liberal access to condoms revealed a larger propensity for multiple sex partners. Males reported less sexual contact among boys in the group with liberal access to condoms. Males in the group with liberal access to condoms also reported a higher risk of having multiple partners. This study therefore concluded that the risk of sexual promiscuity was no higher for teens with liberal access to condoms than teens with normal access. The final journal article reviews was written by Boonstra (2010) who conducted a review of the literature on a new Federal Pregnancy Prevention initiative.

In this regard, Boonstra reviewed the effectiveness of 100 such programs in the US and outcomes relative to reducing risky sexual behavior among teens compared to other programs with a similar mission. The aim was to identify effective methods for delivering and structuring programs designed to improve sexual behavior among teens. The results of the study indicated that there were three approaches to programs in the US relative to altering risky sexual behavior of teens. One approach was to focus on teaching teens to abstain, the second approach was to teach teens to use contraceptives.

The third approach introduced by the new Federal initiative was to teach teens to abstain and if they couldn’t or wouldn’t abstain, to use contraceptives. The study found that programs using a mix of both abstaining and using contraceptives such as the new initiative was more successful in modifying the risky sexual behavior of teens than programs that chose one approach alone.