What they wish they would have known: Support for comprehensive sexual education from Mexican American and White adolescents' dating and sexual desires

Heidi L. Adams, Lela Williams

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

13 Scopus citations

Abstract

Focus groups were conducted to assess what Mexican American and White male and female adolescents wished they had known about romantic and sexual relationships. Relevant gender and ethnic differences emerged in adolescents' desires and findings across all groups supported a need for comprehensive sexual education that contextualizes sexual activity within a framework that emphasizes socio-emotional skills and well-being. Adolescents' desires were emotional, relational, physical and interpersonal in nature. Youth preferred parents and school educators as key sources of information and support. Recommendations for prevention programming and policy are discussed.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1875-1885
Number of pages11
JournalChildren and Youth Services Review
Volume33
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2011

Keywords

  • Adolescence
  • Gender
  • Mexican American
  • Parents
  • Qualitative
  • Sexuality

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Education
  • Developmental and Educational Psychology
  • Sociology and Political Science

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'What they wish they would have known: Support for comprehensive sexual education from Mexican American and White adolescents' dating and sexual desires'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this