Preventing risky sexual behavior in adolescents

Abstract

Preventing risky sexual health behavior in adolescents has become a critical focus among public health professionals, educators, and policy makers in the USA, and for good reason. Risky sexual behavior contributes to unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV/AIDS. Such outcomes are highly related to the overall physical, social/emotional, academic, and economic well-being of adolescents, children born to teens, and society as a whole. This chapter addresses the prevention of risky sexual health behavior in adolescents in four sections. In the first section, we summarize the epidemiology of risky sexual behavior among adolescents, focusing on statistics of adolescent pregnancy, STIs, and HIV/AIDS in the USA, and the economic and social costs of risky adolescent sexual behavior. In the second section, we discuss the relationship between risky sexual behavior and behavioral theory and why maintaining a focus on behavioral theory in prevention programming is critical. In the third section, we identify venues where interventions designed to prevent risky sexual behavior among adolescents can be implemented, including schools, community settings, and clinical settings, and provide examples of evidence-based programs designed to be implemented in each of these settings. In the fourth and final section, we present recommendations for future prevention programming, provide guidance on developing effective programs, and list helpful resources for planning prevention programs, including planning frameworks such as intervention mapping, RE-AIM, and PRECEDE-PROCEED.