These materials were prepared on behalf of The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. Use of these materials is permitted for public or private use, provided that acknowledgement and/or citation of The National Campaign is included where appropriate. For additional clarification or questions, please send us an email.
Attitudes Toward Sex, Love, Relationships, etc |
The Cautious Generation? Teens Tell Us About Sex, Virginity, and "The Talk" (2000)
Results from a public opinion poll conducted in 2000 by International Communications Research and commissioned by The National Campaign.
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Del corazón de los jóvenes: What Latino teens are saying about love and relationships (2008)
Rarely are teens themselves asked to share their thoughts and beliefs about issues that affect them. Del corazón de los jóvenes—which in English roughly translates to “youth speak from the heart”—gives both teens and parents a snapshot of what Latino teens themselves say about relationships. This document is based on findings from a nationally-representative survey of Latino teens and adults, focus groups with Latino teens, and research previously published by The National Campaign.
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Faithful Nation: What American Adults and Teens Think About Faith, Morals, Religion, and Teen Pregnancy (2001)
Faithful Nation provides the results of a nationally-representative survey of adults and teens conducted in September 2001.
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iPlan: Tips from Teens for Teens about Life, Love, and Not Getting Pregnant (2009)
When it comes to sex, teens get tons of advice from adults, but they aren’t often asked to offer their own. Crazy right? So we asked teens from all over the country what they thought about relationships, sex, and pregnancy. Here are the 13 answers and opinions that we heard most often.
This product replaces the English version of Thinking About the Right-Now: What Teens Want Other Teens to Know About Preventing Pregnancy (the Spanish version is available here in the original format)
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Kiss and Tell: What Teens Say About Love, Trust, and Other Relationship Stuff (2007)
Teens tend to get advice on all kinds of issues from parents,teachers, and other adults but rarely are young people themselves asked to describe their own thoughts and beliefs. We hope to balance the equation just a bit with Kiss and Tell, a snapshot of what teens are thinking about love and relationships. This brochure is a compilation of findings taken from a national survey of young people, key themes and quotes that emerged from a survey conducted on The National Campaign website, and from focus group research conducted in 2007 throughout the United States.
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Not Just Another Thing to Do: Teens Tell Us About Sex, Regret, and the Influence of their Parents (2000)
The poll highlights teens' attitudes on regret about having sex too early, where teens get their information about sex, and who influences their sexual decision making.
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Our Story, Our Words: Youth Speak Out on Sex, Love, and Teen Pregnancy (2007)
Teens get lots of advice from adults, but they usually aren't asked to offer their own. That's why The National Campaign asked teens growing up in foster care to tell us what they wanted to know about teen pregnancy prevention and what advice they would give to their peers. This handy, magazine-style brochure tells what teens have to say in their own words.
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Risky Business: A 2000 Poll. Teens Tell Us What They Really Think About Contraception and Sex (2000)
Results from a public opinion poll conducted in 2000 by International Communications Research and commissioned by The National Campaign. Also includes a summary of past Campaign polls.
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Science Says #2: The Case for the Cautious Generation (2003)
There is increasing evidence that suggests teens are taking a more cautious attitude toward sex. Using data from several nationally representative surveys, thisScience Says research brief provides evidence of this trend and offers recommendations to those who work with teens, to policymakers, and to parents.
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Science Says #6: The Sexual Attitudes and Behavior of Male Teens (2003)
The 850,000 teen girls who become pregnant each year don’t do so alone. Still, teen pregnancy is usually seen as a “girls’ problem.” Happily, the past decade has brought increased attention to the importance of directly involving boys and men in efforts to prevent teen pregnancy. This Science Saysbrief provides information on teen boys’ sexual activity and contraceptive use, their attitudes toward both, and advice for parents and program leaders.
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Science Says #14: Teens' Attitudes Toward Sex, 2002 (2005)
The National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) is the premier source of national information on teen sexual behavior, contraceptive use, and pregnancy. This Science Says issue brief uses the most recent round of the NSFG, collected in 2002, to examine teens’ attitudes about sexual activity outside of marriage.
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Science Says #15: Teens' Attitudes Toward Childbearing, 2002 (2005)
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Science Says #16: Teens’ Attitudes Toward Marriage, Cohabitation, and Divorce, 2002 (2005)
This Science Says issue brief uses the most recent round of the NSFG, collected in 2002, to examine teens’ attitudes about marriage, divorce, and cohabitation.
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Science Says #21: Teens' Attitudes Toward Pregnancy and Childbearing, 1988-2002 (2006)
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Science Says #26: Adolescent Boys’ Use of Health Services (2006)
This Science Says issue brief uses data from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) to explore teen boys’ use of health services.
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Science Says #28: Adolescent Girls’ Use of Health Services (2006)
This Science Says issue brief uses data from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) to explore teen girls’ use of health services.
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Sex and Tech: Results from a Nationally Representative Survey of Teens and Young Adults (2008)
Results from this survey show that 21% of teen girls and 18% of teen boys have sent/ posted nude or semi-nude images of themselves. What is going on with teens, tech, and sex?
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StayTeen.org
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Talking Back: Ten Things Teens Want Adults to Know About Teen Pregnancy (2003)
This report answers the question: If you could offer your parents and other adults advice about how to help you and your friends avoid pregnancy, what would it be? Presented as 12 “tips,” Talking Back makes clear that young people really do want to hear from their parents about sex, love, relationships, and values, even if they don’t always act like it. (Available in Spanish as Los Jóvenes Responden: Diez Cosas Que Desean Que Los Adultos Sepan Sobre El Embarazo En La Adolescenci.)
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That's What He Said: What Guys Think About Sex, Love, Contraception, and Relationships (2010)
To date, much of the research on teen and unplanned pregnancy—its causes and remedies—has focused on girls and women. But the nearly 1.5 million teen girls and single women in their early 20s who find themselves unintentionally pregnant every year don’t get there by themselves. The National Campaign partnered with Seventeen magazine to better understand what guys think about these issues.
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Thinking About Our Future: Latino Teens Speak Out about Teen Pregnancy (2009)
When it comes to relationships, sex, contraception, and teen pregnancy, teens are seldom asked to offer their own thoughts and advice. Many Latino teens say they rarely see or hear themselves in messages and materials designed to prevent teen pregnancy. Thinking About Our Future—a pamphlet created by The National Campaign in partnership with the Pathways/Senderos Center, puts the voice of Latino teens front and center. The pamphlet is intended to provide insight into what Latino youth are saying about teen pregnancy and related issues and highlights the ideas and experiences of Latino teens enrolled in the Pathways/Senderos Center.
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Too Young
Winner of the 2008 Freddie Award for adolescent health, Too Young, allows teen parents from a variety of backgrounds to share their stories and - in their own words - to offer their candid views about the difficulties they face. This 4.5 minute educational video is intended to help teens, parents, educators, community leaders, and policymakers better understand the challenges of teen pregnancy by hearing directly from a group of courageous teen parents who know what it means to be too young for pregnancy and parenthood.
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Toward a Common Future: Latino Teens and Adults Speak Out About Teen Pregnancy (2009)
Given the high rates of Latina teen pregnancy and the incredible diversity of the Latino community, many researchers and service providers have identified a need for more specific information on the many subgroups that compose the Latino population to better address the needs of the community. For this and other reasons, The National Campaign and the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) commissioned this nationally representative survey of Latino youth and adults.
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Voices Heard: Latino Adults and Teens Speak Up About Teen Pregnancy (2007)
Teen pregnancy and birth rates among all teens have declined by about one-third since the early 1990s. Even so, the Latino teen pregnancy rate is almost twice the national average and has declined about half as fast as the national rate according to a new summary analysis prepared by The National Campaign.
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With One Voice: LITE -
America’s Adults and Teens Sound Off About Teen Pregnancy (2009)
A precursor to our semi-annual nationally-representative survey of adults and teens, With One Voice Lite covers five of the questions usually discussed in the full With One Voice survey. With One Voice 2009 (full) is expected to be released in Fall 2009.
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With One Voice: America’s Adults and Teens Sound Off About Teen Pregnancy (2007)
A semi-annual nationally-representative survey of adults and teens developed, commissioned, and released by The National Campaign.
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With One Voice 2001-2004
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Influence (Peer, Social, etc) |
Are Peers Getting a Bad Rap? (1999)
Results from a public opinion poll conducted in 1999 by International Communications Research and commissioned by The National Campaign.
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Childhood Sexual Abuse and Teen Pregnancy (2007)
This paper, produced in partnership with Child Trends, provides an exhaustive review of recent literature on the link between childhood sexual abuse and teen pregnancy and related sexual behaviors.
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Does Watching Sex on Television Predict Teen Pregnancy? Findings From a National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (2008)*
An important study from the Rand Corportation is the first to directly link sexual content on TV to the likelihood of teens getting pregnant or causing a pregnancy. Primary finding from the study published in the journal Pediatrics? Teens who are drowining in sex-saturated TV are twice as likely as their peers who watch little sexy stuff on TVto get pregnant or cause a pregnancy by age 16. So, will turning off the TV prevent teen pregnancy?
*this report was written and published by the Rand Corporation; The National Campaign did not contribute in any way
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Managing the Media Monster: The Influence of Media (From Television to Text Messages) on Teen Sexual Behavior and Attitudes (2008)
The goal of this report is to inform practitioners and program providers about what the most up-to-date research says about teens and media influence. Specifically, this publication examines in detail how the media influences - in positive and negative ways - teen sexual knowledge, attitudes, and behavior. Importantly, the report also offers practical suggestions for how those working with youth can use the media to reach young people and provides suggestions on how best to capitalize on the exploding world of digital media.
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Media and The Message: Lessons Learned from Past Public Service Campaigns - Full Report (1998)
By William DeJong, Ph.D., and Jay Winsten, Ph.D, the Harvard School of Public Health
Drawing on the traditions of commercial marketing, advertising, and public relations, as well as public health practice, the authors present an overview of lessons learned from evaluations of past public service campaigns, summarize current thinking and research on how the mass media can be used in social change movements, and articulate a set of guidelines that can help the development of future campaigns.
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Media and The Message: Lessons Learned from Past Public Service Campaigns - Summary (1998)
By William DeJong, Ph.D., and Jay Winsten, Ph.D, the Harvard School of Public Health
Drawing on the traditions of commercial marketing, advertising, and public relations, as well as public health practice, the authors present an overview of lessons learned from evaluations of past public service campaigns, summarize current thinking and research on how the mass media can be used in social change movements, and articulate a set of guidelines that can help the development of future campaigns.
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Science Says #20: The Association between Parent, Family, and Peer Religiosity and Teenagers’ Sexual Experience and Contraceptive Use (2005)
This Science Says brief builds on earlier research by using recent longitudinal data (see Sample section for details) to examine the association between adolescent sexual behavior and parent, family, and peer religiosity.
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Taming the Media Monster: Teens and Sex in the Digital Age
June 26, 2009
The National Campaign held a conference focused on digital media and teen sexual behavior. The first session included a discussion of the current research about the influence of media on teen sexual health and evaluated interventions that have used media to effectively reach teens. Subsequent sessions focused on current interventions that are using digital media to reach teens and improve reproductive health outcomes.
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This Is My Reality: The Price of Sex. An Inside Look at Black Urban Youth Sexuality and the Role of the Media (2004)
For many low-income Black urban youth, sex is seen as little more than a transaction and mainstream messages about sex, love, and relationships are having little impact in the inner city, according to a new report from Motivational Educational Entertainment Productions (MEE). The extraordinarily frank report summarizes findings from 40 focus groups conducted in ten cities in 2002, and offers many sobering insights from low-income Black youth on their views about sex, relationships, marriage, pregnancy, and parenthood.
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Sexual Behavior |
14 and Younger: The Sexual Behavior of Young Adolescents - Summary (2003)
This report answers some lingering questions concerning this age group's sexual activity, pregnancy rate, contraceptive use, dating patterns, and communication with their parents about sex and related issues.
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Fast Facts: Teen Sexual Behavior and Contraceptive Use: Data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 2007 (2008)
New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that positive changes in high school teens’ sexual behavior and contraceptive use have stalled. At present, nearly half of all teens have ever had sex and more than one-third are sexually active (that is, they have had sex in the past three months). Less than two-thirds of sexually active teens report using a condom the last time they had sex.
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Religiosity and Teenagers’ Sexual Behavior
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Science Says #1: Where and When Teens First Have Sex (2003)
Almost half (46%) of high school-aged teens in the United States have had sexual intercourse. Because of continued concern about teenage sexual activity and support for messages that encourage young people to delay sexual debut, where and when teens first have sex is a matter of interest to those who run programs for teens, to policymakers, and to parents. This Science Says research brief uses data from a recent national survey to examine the time and place teens first have sex and provides recommendations based on these findings.
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Science Says #3: The Sexual Behavior of Young Adolescents (2003)
Few adults or teens think it is appropriate for young adolescents to have sex. Still, a significant minority of those age 14 and younger say they have had sexual intercourse. One large data set even suggests that while the proportion of unmarried teen girls age 15-19 who have had sex declined between 1988 and 1995, the proportion of unmarried teen girls age 14 and younger who had sex increased appreciably over the same time period. This Science Says research brief provides data on the sexual behavior of young adolescents and offers recommendations based on this research to parents, policymakers and those who work with teens.
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Science Says #5: Characteristics of Teens' First Sexual Partner (2003)
Using national data on teens in grades 7-12, this research brief presents information by gender, race/ ethnicity, and age. Readers should note that all the differences reported in this brief (for example, differences in answers between males and females) are considered statistically significant.
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Science Says #6: The Sexual Attitudes and Behavior of Male Teens (2003)
The 850,000 teen girls who become pregnant each year don’t do so alone. Still, teen pregnancy is usually seen as a “girls’ problem.” Happily, the past decade has brought increased attention to the importance of directly involving boys and men in efforts to prevent teen pregnancy. This Science Saysbrief provides information on teen boys’ sexual activity and contraceptive use, their attitudes toward both, and advice for parents and program leaders.
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Science Says #17: Teens and Oral Sex (2005)
This analysis attempts to answer some of the questions surrounding teens and oral sex using data from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG)—the premier source of national information on teen sexual behavior.
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Science Says #18: HIV Testing (2005)
This Science Says issue brief uses data from the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) to explore HIV testing among sexually experienced teens. A second Science Says issue brief (#19) explores the extent to which sexually experienced teens receive counseling following an HIV test.
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Science Says #19: HIV Counseling (2005)
This Science Says issue brief explores the extent to which sexually experienced teens receive counseling following an HIV test. HIV counseling conducted with HIV testing helps provide individuals with information about HIV transmission and prevention and underscores the importance and meaning of HIV test results. In addition, HIV counseling at the time of HIV testing allows patients the opportunity to identify behavior that increases the risk of HIV infection and ways they can reduce their risk of infection.
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Science Says #22: Teens’ Sexual Experience, 1995-2002 (2006)
This Science Says issue brief presents information on the proportion of teens who have had sex, and how the proportion of sexually experienced teens has changed from 1995 to 2002.
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Science Says #33: The Sexual Behavior of Young Adolescents (2007)
This Science Says research brief provides new data on the sexual behavior of young teens and
offers recommendations to parents, policymakers, and those working with young teens.
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Science Says #35: Acculturation and Sexual Behavior Among Latino Youth (2008)
This Science Says issue brief explores acculturation and country of origin in greater detail. Measures of acculturation have specifically been defined as generation status and language for purposes of this research brief.
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Science Says #36: Teen Sexual Behavior (2008)
Although the proportion of young teens who have had sex and the number who become pregnant has decreased in the past few years, early pregnancy and parenthood remain a concern. Teens who have sex at very young ages are at increased risk of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease (STD). They are also more likely to have an older partner, to have multiple partners, or to have non voluntary sex. This Science Says research brief provides new data on the sexual behavior of young teens and offers recommendations to parents, policymakers, and those working with young teens.
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Sex and Tech: Results from a Nationally Representative Survey of Teens and Young Adults (2008)
Results from this new survey show that 21% of teen girls and 18% of teen boys have sent/ posted nude or semi-nude images of themselves. What is going on with teens, tech, and sex?
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Teens' Sexual Experience
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