Abstinence from sexual intercourse can be a healthy choice for adolescents, particularly if an adolescent is not ready to engage in sex. However, government programs exclusively promoting abstinence-only-until-marriage (AOUM) are problematic from scientific and ethical viewpoints. Most young people initiate sexual intercourse as adolescents or young adults, and given a rising age at first marri...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the relationship between duration of sexual abstinence and various characteristics of normal and subnormal semen. DESIGN A retrospective study based on computerized data. SETTING Fertility and IVF unit at a university medical center. PATIENT(S) Nine thousand, four hundred eighty-nine semen samples from 6,008 patients were analyzed according to the World Health Organi...

CONTEXT Adolescent pregnancy, HIV, and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are major public health problems in the U.S. Implementing group-based interventions that address the sexual behavior of adolescents may reduce the incidence of pregnancy, HIV, and other STIs in this group. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION Methods for conducting systematic reviews from the Guide to Community Preventive Ser...

OBJECTIVES To evaluate demographic and behavioural characteristics of sexually active women compared to those who had abstained from intercourse in the past 6 months. METHODS The study participants were women of childbearing age from six sites in three states in the USA. Survey questions were asked of women who were not surgically sterile and who had not gone through menopause. The main outco...

BACKGROUND Global efforts in response to the increased prevalence of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are mainly aimed at reducing high risk sexual behaviors among young people. However, knowledge regarding intentions of young people to engage in protective sexual behaviors is still lacking in many countries around the world, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa where prevalence of human immu...

INTRODUCTION As young people living with HIV grow their sexual behaviour and it's implication on HIV prevention is of concern. This study describes the sexual risk related-behaviours and factors associated with abstinence among Youth Living with HIV in central Uganda. METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional study among 338 unmarried youth between 15 and 24 years accessing HIV care in central U...

The scientific literature estimates that male infertility accounts for 30% to 40% of infertility among couples (13). Before fertility treatments can be initiated, it remains unclear on what should be the optimal period of sexual self-restraint required to warrant maximum quality sperm is achieved. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the abstinence time before medical examination s...

PURPOSE This study examined whether formal sex education is associated with sexual health behaviors and outcomes using recent nationally representative survey data. METHODS Data used were from 4,691 male and female individuals aged 15-24 years from the 2006-2008 National Survey of Family Growth. Weighted bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted by gender, estimating the associations...

Adolescence is marked by the emergence of human sexuality, sexual identity, and the initiation of intimate relations; within this context, abstinence from sexual intercourse can be a healthy choice. However, programs that promote abstinence-only-until-marriage (AOUM) or sexual risk avoidance are scientifically and ethically problematic and-as such-have been widely rejected by medical and public...

FGSS123 Love, Sex, and Marriage in Renaissance Europe This writing-intensive seminar will compare literary and artistic depictions of love, sex, and marriage during the Renaissance by authors and artists from England, Spain, France, Flanders, Germany, and Italy. We will read both male and female writers in genres ranging from poetry, the short story, and theater to the essay, the travel narrati...