Lessons Learned: European Approaches to Adolescent Sexual Behavior and Responsibility

What One Gets Is Not Always What One Wants-Young Adults' Perception of Sexuality Education in Poland

There is a discrepancy between the educational needs and the opportunities to obtain reliable knowledge about sexuality in adolescence. This study aimed to assess the conjunctive influence of family and school in shaping this knowledge.

METHODS

Data were collected retrospectively within a cross-sectional survey conducted in Poland in 2017 (18-26 yrs; N = 595). The respondents' experiences in terms of the presence and quality of sexuality education (SE) at school and in conversations with parents about related issues were considered.

RESULTS

Of all the respondents, 31.1% had no sexuality education classes in school or rated them as useless, 41.5% never discussed sexuality-related topics with parents and both were true for 17.6%. Puberty and contraception were most frequently discussed with parents, while sexual pleasure and masturbation were discussed least frequently. The diversity of topics taken up with parents and the possibility of discussions with mothers turned out to be the most important factors for shaping adolescents' knowledge. A relationship with the quality of sexuality education at school was additionally revealed for girls, while a relationship with talking to fathers was revealed for boys.

CONCLUSIONS

Schools and families should work together to strengthen proper sexual development by meeting adolescents' needs in the field of their knowledge on human sexuality.

A cross-cultural content-analytic comparison of the hookup culture in U.S. and Dutch teen girl magazines

This quantitative content analysis investigated the hookup culture in U.S. and Dutch teen girl magazines. Using Hofstede's cultural dimension of masculinity/femininity, the hookup culture (i.e., the relational context of sex, emotional context of sex, specific sexual activities, and contraceptives) was examined in 2,496 stories from all 2006 through 2008 issues of the three most popular U.S. (i.e., Seventeen, CosmoGirl! U.S. edition, and Teen) and Dutch teen girl magazines (i.e., Fancy, CosmoGirl! Netherlands edition, and Girlz!). Regarding the relational context of sex, stories about casual sex occurred more often in U.S. magazines, and Dutch magazines focused more on committed sex. Dutch magazines also emphasized sex within the emotional context of love more often than did U.S. magazines. In terms of sexual activities, coital sex was mentioned more often in U.S. coverage, while petting was mentioned more frequently in Dutch coverage. Condoms were covered more positively in U.S. magazines than in Dutch magazines. Overall, the hookup culture seems to be more visible in U.S. magazines for the occurrence of casual sex and lack of love stories, whereas it does not emerge in Dutch magazines due to the presence of committed sex and love-related articles.

Religiosity, Family Orientation, and Life Satisfaction of Adolescents in Four Countries

This study examined the rarely investigated interplay between religiosity, family orientation, and life satisfaction of adolescents across four countries with a Christian tradition and different religious contexts. A mediation relationship between religiosity and life satisfaction through family orientation moderated by the country context of religiosity was examined. In a sample of 1,077 adolescents from France ( n = 172), Germany ( n = 270), Poland ( n = 348), and the United States ( n = 287), we found that in all cultures, religiosity had a positive impact on adolescents’ family orientation, which was in turn related to a higher life satisfaction. This link was stronger in cultures with a high overall religiosity (Poland and the United States) as compared to one of the two cultures with the lowest importance of religion (Germany).

Pilot study of Australian school-based sexual health education: parents' views

Background: Sexually transmissible infections (STIs) among young Australians increased dramatically between 1997 and 2007 with rates of chlamydia increasing by 528% and rates of gonorrhoea by 169% among 15–19 year olds. High notification rates of STIs and teenage pregnancy point to the need to investigate sexual health education (SHE) in Australian schools. This first quantitative study investigated the attitudes and experiences of parents to SHE in Australian schools. Methods: One hundred and seventeen (117) Australian parents were recruited through purposive sampling and snowballing methods to complete an online questionnaire in 2007. Results: Most respondents (97.4%) support SHE in schools and 95.7% advocate schools and parents sharing responsibility. A majority (82.9%) believe SHE should begin in primary school with discrepancy as to when specific topics should be introduced. There is consensus for a comprehensive curriculum, including topics potentially seen as controversial such as ‘masturbation’. ‘Abstinence’ was chosen by 15.4% of parents to not be included in SHE curricula. Most parents rate the SHE their children have received in school as ‘fair’ in quality, and want access to resources to help them educate their children, including workshops at schools, information about school SHE, literature, and trained sexual health educators. Conclusions: Parents generally support SHE in schools. They want programs to begin in primary school. They consider the current school programs to be ‘fair’ in quality. Parents also point out the need for a more comprehensive curriculum and they want to be involved with schools in the development and delivery of SHE.