Adolescent Sexual
Behavior
Teen pregnancy and birth rates have declined steadily in the United States in recent years. Despite these declines, the United States continues to have the highest teen birth rate among all industrialized nations and a higher teen birth rate than over 50 developing nations.
Experts attribute the declining rates to a substantial increase in contraceptive use by sexually active teens and to a decrease in sexual activity among adolescents. Yet, millions of American youth are still engaging in behaviors that put them at risk for unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV. Each year in the United States, about 750,000 adolescent females become pregnant, 20,000 young people are newly infected with HIV, and nearly four million new STI infections occur among 15- to 19-year-olds.
What You Should Know:
For Educators:
For Parents:
For Youth:
Other Advocates' Publications on Adolescent Sexual Behavior:
- Adolescent Sexual Health and the Dynamics of Oppression: A Call for Cultural Competency (Issues at a Glance) [html] [pdf]
- Adolescent Sexual Health in Europe and the U.S.—Why the Difference? (The Facts) [html] [pdf]
- CDC's Condom Fact Sheets: A Comparison (Issues at a Glance) [html] [pdf]
- European Approaches to Adolescent Sexual Behavior & Responsibility [full study report pdf]
- Executive Summary & Call to Action [html] [pdf]
- Giving Up Harmful Practices, Not Culture (Issues at a Glance) [html]
- en español—Renunciar a las prácticas nocivas, no a la cultura [html]
- en français—Abandonner les pratiques nuisibles et non la culture [html]
- Latina Adolescent Health (Issues at a Glance) [html] [pdf]
- Legal Issues and School-Based and School-Linked Health Centers (Issues at a Glance) [html]
- Life Skills Approaches to Improving Youth's Sexual and Reproductive Health (Issues at a Glance) [html] [pdf]
- Raising Sexually Healthy Youth: Rights. Respect. Responsibility.® & Parent-Child Communication (Transitions) [the Web site] [pdf]
- Rights. Respect. Responsibility.® (3Rs) Campaign Kit. (Transitions) To read this issue, visit the 3Rs Campaign Web site.
- Rights. Respect. Responsibility.®—The Keep it REAL Campaign (Campaign Toolkit) [html] [pdf]
- School-Based Health Centers (The Facts) [html]
- Science and Success in Developing Countries: Holistic Programs That Work to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, HIV & Sexually Transmitted Infections [full study report html] [full study report pdf]
- Serving Youth of Color (Transitions) [html] [pdf]
- Sex Education for Physically, Emotionally, and Mentally Challenged Youth (From Research to Practice) [html] [pdf]
- Sex: It's Not So Hard to Talk About [poster]
- The Sexual and Reproductive Health of Youth: A Global Snapshot (The Facts) [html] [pdf]
- The Sexual Health of Asian—American/Pacific Islander Young Women: Focus on Assets (From Research to Practice) [html] [pdf]
- The Sexual Health of Latina Adolescents—Focus on Assets (Issues at a Glance) [html] [pdf]
- State-by-State Sexual Health Rates and Rankings (The Facts) [html] [pdf]
- Teens & Sex in Europe: A Story of Rights, Respect & Responsibility (Video) [view video]
- Television and the Internet: Important Sources of Sexual Health Information for Youth (The Facts) [html] [pdf]
- Trends in Sexual Risk Behaviors among High School Students—United States, 1991 to 1997 and 1999 to 2003 (The Facts) [html] [pdf]
- Your Guide to the Clinic [html]
- Youth and the Global HIV/AIDS Pandemic (The Facts) [html] [pdf]
- en español: Los Jóvenes y la Pandemia Global de VIH/SIDA [html] [pdf]
- Youth and the State of Culture (The Facts) [html] [pdf]
- Youth and the State of Science: Health, New Technologies, Ethics and Human Rights (The Facts) [html] [pdf]
- Youth and the State of the World (The Facts) [html] [pdf]
- Youth of Color—At Disproportionate Risk of Negative Sexual Health Outcomes (The Facts) [html] [pdf]
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