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Abstract
There are disparities in sexual health behavior and outcomes among adolescents in the United States. Schools and community organizations have tried to address the sexual health education needs of adolescents by offering them sexual health curricula, but with inconsistent content and timing. Therefore, the curricula may not meet the needs of youth, especially those living in under resourced communities. Further, little is known about the perceived educational needs and desired characteristics of sexual health information sources. The purpose of this study was to explore the sexual health education needs of adolescents, sources of sexual health information, and students’ preferences in source characteristics and traits. Students between 13 and 19 years old who attended or graduated in the past year from a high school in metropolitan Atlanta (n=112) participated in this study. Data was collected using an online survey. The first aim characterized perceived sexual health educational needs stratified by five demographic characteristics (grade, race, gender, attraction, and sexual experience) chosen because quality sexual health education curriculum should include age appropriate, developmentally appropriate, and culturally relevant content to promote healthy sexual development. Between 21% and 76% of the participants perceived their needs to be well met depending on the sexual health topic being discussed. Students who identified as having a sexual attraction to females, males, or both females and males perceived their information needs to be well met compared to those not experiencing sexual attraction, who had unmet sexual health education needs. The second aim explored which source traits andcharacteristics were important to adolescents. Participants reported that traits such as openness, honesty, and keeping conversations confidential were important for potential sources of sexual health information. The third aim evaluated differences for preferred characteristics and traits of sources by educational needs for each sexual health topic. The results showed few significant differences among participants’ preferred source traits and characteristics by educational needs. More research is needed given the small sample size of this exploratory study. These findings may lead to more effective interventions that provide adolescents with needed sexual health information from sources with whom they feel most confident engaging.