Adolescents’ Use of the Internet for Sex Education: A Thematic and Critical Review of the Literature

ABSTRACT. A thematic and critical literature review was conducted to determine what is known about adolescents’ experiences with online sex education. Four major themes could be discerned from the literature, revealing that: (a) adolescents report engaging with sex information online; (b) adolescents are interested in a number of topics, including sexually transmitted infections and pregnancy; (c) the quality of adolescent-targeted sex information online can be lacking, but adolescents can evaluate these sources; and (d) Internet-based interventions can increase adolescents’ sexual health knowledge. Inconsistencies in the literature are discussed and suggestions are made for future research.

[1]  J. Elia.  Democratic Sexuality Education: A Departure From Sexual Ideologies and Traditional Schooling , 2000 .

[2]  Jeffrey D. Klausner,et al.  SEXINFO: a sexual health text messaging service for San Francisco youth. , 2008, American journal of public health.

[3]  Kristin L. Drogos,et al.  Information-Seeking Practices during the Sexual Development of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Individuals: The Influence and Effects of Coming Out in a Mediated Environment , 2009 .

[4]  Laina Y. Bay-Cheng,et al.  Left to their own devices: Disciplining youth discourse on sexuality education electronic bulletin boards , 2005 .

[5]  Lalita K. Suzuki,et al.  The search for peer advice in cyberspace: An examination of online teen bulletin boards about health and sexuality , 2004 .

[6]  Rick S Zimmerman,et al.  A Computer-based Approach to Preventing Pregnancy, STD, and HIV in Rural Adolescents , 2007, Journal of health communication.

[7]  Tim O'Reilly,et al.  What is Web 2.0: Design Patterns and Business Models for the Next Generation of Software , 2007 .

[8]  S. Austin,et al.  Can media promote responsible sexual behaviors among adolescents and young adults? , 2007, Current opinion in pediatrics.

[9]  Al Cooper,et al.  Sexuality and the Internet: Surfing into the New Millennium , 1998, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[11]  E. Byers,et al.  Factors associated with middle school students' perceptions of the quality of school-based sexual health education , 2013 .

[12]  W. Nwagwu,et al.  The Internet as a source of reproductive health information among adolescent girls in an urban city in Nigeria , 2007, BMC public health.

[13]  V. Rideout,et al.  Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds , 2010 .

[14]  C. Halpern,et al.  Effectiveness of web-based education on Kenyan and Brazilian adolescents' knowledge about HIV/AIDS, abortion law, and emergency contraception: findings from TeenWeb. , 2008, Social science & medicine.

[15]  G. Martinez,et al.  Teenagers in the United States: sexual activity, contraceptive use, and childbearing, 2002. , 2004, Vital and health statistics. Series 23, Data from the National Survey of Family Growth.

[16]  The complexity of internet sexuality. , 2011, Advances in psychosomatic medicine.

[17]  Patti M. Valkenburg,et al.  Adolescents’ Exposure to Sexually Explicit Material on the Internet , 2006, Commun. Res..

[18]  B. Mustanski,et al.  Internet Use and Sexual Health of Young Men Who Have Sex with Men: A Mixed-Methods Study , 2011, Archives of sexual behavior.

[19]  W. D. Rosenfeld,et al.  Adolescent sexuality and the internet: the good, the bad, and the URL. , 2004, Journal of pediatric and adolescent gynecology.

[20]  D. Levine.  Using Technology, New Media, and Mobile for Sexual and Reproductive Health , 2011 .

[21]  Azy Barak,et al.  Toward an internet‐driven, theoretically‐based, innovative approach to sex education , 2001 .

[22]  Rachel K. Jones,et al.  Is the Internet Filling the Sexual Health Information Gap for Teens? An Exploratory Study , 2011, Journal of health communication.

[23]  J. Klein,et al.  Health information-seeking behaviour in adolescence: the place of the internet. , 2005, Social science & medicine.

[24]  Claire D. Brindis,et al.  Finding Teens in TheirSpace: Using Social Networking Sites to Connect Youth to Sexual Health Services , 2011 .

[25]  Julius N Fobil,et al.  Online access by adolescents in Accra: Ghanaian teens' use of the internet for health information. , 2006, Developmental psychology.

[26]  Jonathan D Klein,et al.  Adolescents and the Internet: health and sexuality information , 2006, Current opinion in obstetrics & gynecology.

[27]  Gene P. Danilenko,et al.  An Online Needs Assessment of a Virtual Community: What Men Who Use the Internet to Seek Sex with Men Want in Internet-Based HIV Prevention , 2008, AIDS and Behavior.

[28]  S. Moore,et al.  Sexuality in adolescence: Current trends , 2007 .

[29]  G. Weiss,et al.  In the Dark: Young Men’s Stories of Sexual Initiation in the Absence of Relevant Sexual Health Information , 2010, Health education & behavior : the official publication of the Society for Public Health Education.

[30]  Nneka Emenyonu,et al.  Internet Use among Ugandan Adolescents: Implications for HIV Intervention , 2006, PLoS medicine.

[31]  D. Borzekowski,et al.  Adolescent cybersurfing for health information: a new resource that crosses barriers. , 2001, Archives of pediatrics & adolescent medicine.

[32]  Steven C Martino,et al.  Influence of New Media on Adolescent Sexual Health , 2011 .

[33]  Sylvain C. Boies.  University Students' Uses of and Reactions to Online Sexual Information and Entertainment: Links to Online and Offline Sexual Behaviour , 2002 .

[34]  G. Mcquillan,et al.  Prevalence of Sexually Transmitted Infections Among Female Adolescents Aged 14 to 19 in the United States , 2009, Pediatrics.

[35]  M. Howard,et al.  Improving Low-Income Teen Health Behaviors with Internet-Linked Clinic Interventions , 2011 .

[36]  Paul Crawford,et al.  'Am I normal?' Teenagers, sexual health and the internet. , 2007, Social science & medicine.

[37]  J. Santelli,et al.  Changes in formal sex education: 1995-2002. , 2006, Perspectives on sexual and reproductive health.

[38]  Nicole F. Isaacson.  An overview of the role of sexual health organizations, corporations, and government in determining content and access to online sexuality education for adolescents , 2006 .

[39]  Rick S Zimmerman,et al.  The Effects of a Computer-Based Pregnancy, STD, and HIV Prevention Intervention: A Nine-School Trial , 2007, Health communication.

[40]  Nicola M. Döring,et al.  The Internet's impact on sexuality: A critical review of 15 years of research , 2009, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[41]  Malcolm R. Parks,et al.  Reducing at-risk adolescents' display of risk behavior on a social networking web site: a randomized controlled pilot intervention trial. , 2009, Archives of pediatrics & adolescent medicine.

[42]  S. Keller,et al.  STD/HIV Prevention for Teenagers: A Look at the Internet Universe , 2002, Journal of health communication.

[43]  Eric R Buhi,et al.  An Observational Study of How Young People Search for Online Sexual Health Information , 2009, Journal of American college health : J of ACH.

[44]  J. Kohn,et al.  What Teens Want to Know: Sexual Health Questions Submitted to a Teen Web Site , 2003 .

[45]  William D Mosher,et al.  Sexual behavior and selected health measures: men and women 15-44 years of age, United States, 2002. , 2005, Advance data.

[46]  S. Howard,et al.  A systematic examination of the use of Online social networking sites for sexual health promotion , 2011, BMC public health.

[47]  Graham Lawton,et al.  Am I normal , 2015 .

[48]  Ying Li,et al.  Needs and preferences regarding sex education among Chinese college students: a preliminary study. , 2004, International family planning perspectives.

[49]  D. Kirby.  The impact of schools and school programs upon adolescent sexual behavior , 2002, Journal of sex research.

[50]  S. Bankowski,et al.  The Information Is Out There, But is Anyone Getting It? Adolescent Misconceptions About Sexuality Education and Reproductive Health and the Use of the Internet to Get Answers , 2000 .

[51]  M. Beres.  Sexual miscommunication? Untangling assumptions about sexual communication between casual sex partners , 2010, Culture, health & sexuality.

[52]  D. Dawson.  The effects of sex education on adolescent behavior. , 1986, Family planning perspectives.

[53]  Alison Oberne,et al.  Quality and accuracy of sexual health information web sites visited by young people. , 2010, The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine.

[54]  The Internet as a source of information about sexuality , 2012 .

[55]  B. Caldwell,et al.  The construction of adolescence in a changing world: implications for sexuality, reproduction, and marriage. , 1998, Studies in family planning.

[56]  Alexandra Rankin Macgill,et al.  Teens and social media , 2008 .

[57]  Jeffrey P. Moran.  Teaching Sex: The Shaping of Adolescence in the 20th Century , 2000 .

[58]  L. Gilbert,et al.  Evaluating a teen STD prevention Web site. , 2005, The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine.

[59]  S. Bull,et al.  New Media and Research: Considering Next Steps , 2011 .

[60]  S. Keller,et al.  Talking about STD/HIV prevention: a look at communication online , 2004, AIDS care.

[61]  Susannah Fox,et al.  Generations online in 2009 , 2009 .

[62]  Laina Y. Bay-Cheng,et al.  SexEd.com: Values and norms in web‐based sexuality education , 2001 .

[63]  John H. Gagnon,et al.  Sexual Conduct: The Social Sources of Human Sexuality , 1975 .

[64]  S. Månsson,et al.  Lust, Love, and Life: A Qualitative Study of Swedish Adolescents' Perceptions and Experiences with Pornography , 2010, Journal of sex research.

[65]  Amy T. Schalet.  Not Under My Roof: Parents, Teens, and the Culture of Sex , 2009 .

[66]  Deena J. Chisolm,et al.  Does online health information seeking act like a health behavior?: a test of the behavioral model. , 2010, Telemedicine journal and e-health : the official journal of the American Telemedicine Association.

[67]  Aaron Smith,et al.  Social Media & Mobile Internet Use among Teens and Young Adults. Millennials. , 2010 .

[68]  G. Bradley,et al.  Sexuality Education across the Lifecycle in the New Millennium , 2001 .

[69]  A. Strauss,et al.  The discovery of grounded theory: strategies for qualitative research aldine de gruyter , 1968 .

[70]  L. Hebert,et al.  Teens Reflect on Their Sources of Contraceptive Information , 2011 .

[71]  Joshua C. Magee,et al.  Sexual Health Information Seeking Online: A Mixed-Methods Study Among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Young People , 2011 .

[72]  Patti M. Valkenburg,et al.  Adolescents' Identity Experiments on the Internet , 2008, Commun. Res..

[73]  I. Shah,et al.  Can the Internet be used effectively to provide sex education to young people in China? , 2006, The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine.

[74]  Susan D. Voyer,et al.  An Adolescent Perspective on Sexual Health Education at School and at Home: I. High School Students , 2003 .

[75]  G. Martinez,et al.  Teenagers in the United States: sexual activity, contraceptive use, and childbearing, national survey of family growth 2006-2008. , 2010, Vital and health statistics. Series 23, Data from the National Survey of Family Growth.

[76]  Jane D. Brown,et al.  Sex, Sexuality, Sexting, and SexEd: Adolescents and the Media. , 2009 .

[77]  M. D. Arthur.  The sex education debates , 2013 .