BACKGROUND Menstruation is a significant part of women's lives. It has been studied from many perspectives to draw various conclusions about biological and physiological development, gender differences, and sociocultural environments. PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to explore how male and female pubescent students perceive and interpret menarche and menstruation and how their perceptio...

Despite their increasing numbers, few of the sexuality education and pregnancy prevention programs in developing countries have been evaluated. This study, conducted in 1995-1997, assesses the impact of a school-based sexuality education program, the Grade 7 Project, on 945 Jamaican seventh graders (aged 11-14) and their initiation of sexual activity and use of contraception at first intercours...

The paper analyzes socio-cultural and psychosocial factors affecting sexual activities and related risk-taking behaviors in Croatian high-school students. It attempts to determine the correlates of sexual activity, early sexual initiation, the number of sexual partners, and the use of contraceptives and condoms. Due to the gender-specific trajectories of sexual socialization and initiation, all...

More than 93 percent of parents place high importance on sex education in both middle and high school. Sex education in middle and high school is widely supported by parents regardless of their political affiliation. Using data from a large diverse sample of 1,633 parents of children aged 9 to 21 years, we examined whether views on sex education differed by parents' political affiliation. More ...

Sex education refers to people’s comprehension about sex, which involves not only sexual structure (anatomy, physiology, birth control, pregnancy, etc.), but also sexual relationships concerning human and moral problems. It includes at least sexual physiology, sexual psychology, sexual ethic, sexual law, etc., which aims to help people form the attitude and behavior that both society and morali...

Initiation of sexual behaviour is a normal part of human development and it often occurs during adolescence. This is common and universal to all societies and cultures around the world with profound implications for sexual and reproductive health. Adolescence is the period when much of the changes that are associated with becoming an adult take place. These are changes which societies expect an...

A parental survey that addressed the social sexual awareness, sex education, and sex behaviors of persons with autism, a developmental disability is provided. Questionnaires from 100 caregivers of persons with autism 9 years of age and older and with the DSM-III-R diagnosis were analyzed. Eighty-five percent of respondents were mothers, 8% both parents, 5% fathers, and 2% others; 32% of the per...

OBJECTIVES To begin to map the reported behaviours and attitudes of young Britons of south Asian origin that may have implications for sexual health. "South Asian" refers to people able to trace their ancestry from the Indian subcontinent (that is, India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh), henceforth referred to as "Asian". DESIGN A cross sectional study of sexual behaviour using self report measures...

This paper explores how young people in Malawi conceptualize sex and sexual relations through an analysis of their personal narratives about these phenomena. Eleven focus group discussions were conducted with 114 youth aged 14-19 years. Participants were asked to describe behaviors, attitudes, and motivations to reduce unplanned pregnancies and the spread of HIV/AIDS, with appropriate probes to...

CONTEXT The increasing prevalence of autism since the 1990s has led to growing demand for sex education that meets the needs of persons on the autism spectrum. Yet there is a dearth of research documenting the firsthand experiences and perspectives of autistic individuals. METHODS A thematic analysis was conducted of in-depth, Internet-facilitated interviews with 24 adults on the autism spect...