Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #117462

Laurie Legocki, MS¹, Amanda Tanner, MPH¹, Michael Reece, PhD, MPH¹, Maresa Murray, PhD¹, and Kathleen Baldwin, MSW². (1) Sexual Health Research Working Group, Department of Applied Health Science, Indiana University, HPER 116, Bloomington, IN 47405, 812-855-4019, llegocki@indiana.edu, (2) Planned Parenthood of Indiana, 200 South Meridian Street, P.O. Box 397, Indianapolis, IN 46206

Background: The current debate surrounding sexuality education in public schools focuses on the idea that a comprehensive approach to sexuality–related topics will increase sexual activity among adolescents. As an alternative abstinence-only education programming encourages adolescents to wait until marriage and does not provide them with information about how to protect themselves if they become sexually active. Methods: Data collected from an Internet-based questionnaire from 400 Indiana school teachers, counselors, and nurses were analyzed to determine the primary curriculum for sexuality education. Additionally, the Indiana Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) data were explored to determine reported sexual activity of adolescents and to examine the rates of condom use among sexually active adolescents. Findings: The majority of respondents reported that their schools utilize an abstinence-only philosophy (41%) and 13% reported using comprehensive sexuality education in their school. According to the YRBS data for Indiana, almost 50% of high school students reported ever having had sexual intercourse, with 45% reported no condom use during their last sexual experience. Of new HIV cases in Indiana, 4% are among adolescents 13 to 19 and 36% are among 20–25 year olds. Many of these cases could have been transmitted during unprotected sexual activity in adolescence. Conclusions: Despite the continued focus on abstinence-only education, adolescents continue to engage in sexual behavior. The incongruence between schools' reliance on abstinence-only sex education and the behaviors that youth are engaging in has the potential to have a significant impact on the overall reproductive health.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant in this session will be able to

• Gain an understanding of the sexuality education curriculum being taught in Indiana public schools.
• To determine the effectiveness of the type of sexuality education curriculum currently being employed at Indiana public schools.
• Identify behavioral implications for students’ sexual health.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.