Adolescent Sexual Health: Module 2 Assignment Report Analysis

This assignment delves into the multifaceted realm of adolescent sexual health, utilizing Australian data as a focal point. It commences by dissecting the World Health Organization's definition of sexual health and its relevance to adolescents, examining the physiological, psychological, and social factors influencing their sexual behaviors. The solution explores the prevalence of risky sexual behaviors, such as unprotected sex and multiple partners, and their correlation with the development of the prefrontal cortex and limbic system. It then analyzes the role of parents and educational institutions in promoting sexual health awareness, addressing the challenges of inadequate education and the importance of open communication. The assignment further investigates national indicators of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in Australia and the United States, highlighting gender disparities and the influence of sociodemographic factors. The analysis extends to the prevalence of HIV among different populations, emphasizing the need for tailored sexual health education and the impact of societal stigma. The assignment underscores the importance of comprehensive sexual health education and the need to address the unique challenges faced by adolescents, offering a comprehensive overview of this critical public health issue.

Running head: ADOLESCENT SEXUAL HEALTH
ADOLESCENT SEXUAL HEALTH
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

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Part A
Task 1
A part of the World Health’s Organization’s (WHO, 2019) definition of sexual health,
states, ‘the possibility of having pleasurable and safe sexual experiences’. Indeed, this
component of the WHO’s definition can largely be applied to adolescents. Adolescence is a stage
of rapid and often overwhelming endocrinal, physiological and psychological changes. Such
spurts in physical and mental growth and development subject adolescent’s to range of emotional
and social upheavals of which, sexual activity forms a key component. Hence, during this stage,
not only are adolescents sexually active, they are also highly susceptible to participation in risky
and unsafe sexual behaviors (Simons et al., 2016). The meta-analysis by Richwood et al., (2015)
postulates the high tendency of adolescents’ engagement in risky sexual behaviours, such as,
unprotected sex, oral genital contact, participating in sexual activities with number of partners
and participation in sexual intercourse with high-risk partners, possibly due to premature
development of the prefrontal cortex - the cerebral region associated with decision-making and
regulation of behavior. Authors Richwood et al., (2015) also postulate early development of the
limbic system - the region responsible for emotional regulation in response to pleasure and
rewards – as an additional factor responsible for adolescents’ high tendency to participate in
immediately pleasurable yet risky and unsafe sexual behaviors. Such difference in development
across various regions of the brain, contribute to increased perceptions of vulnerability and
emphasis on attaining immediate pleasure rather than contemplating on long term risks on health
further results in increased participation of risky and unsafe sexual behaviour (Braje, Eddy &
Hall, 2016). Prolonged lack of mitigation of such sexual behaviours increases the risk of

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acquisition of sexually transmitted diseases as well as unplanned pregnancies. Such prevalence
of such risks further increases in adolescents with mental health issues. Thus there is a need for
educating adolescents on basic aspects of sexual health and the importance of focusing on the
safety aspect of sexual activities rather than merely pleasure (Balms et al., 2015). Considering
the unique emotional, physiological, cognitive and psychological developments encountered
during adolescence, educating adolescents on the importance of engaging in safe sexual practices
must comprise of emphasizing with the perceptions of the concerned adolescents, respecting his
or her autonomy in decision-making as well as enlightening him or her on the available
healthcare services and resources to revert to for information and emergencies (Hentges, Shaw &
Wang, 2018).
Task 2: Reply to post by Francesco Poci
As articulately clearly in the post, indeed, one of the major contributor’s of adolescents’
lack of awareness and engagement in risky and unsafe sexual behaviours, is the lack of
interventions or empathetic discussion initiated by parents and educational institutions on the
same. Recent evidence indicates a number of reasons contributing to such disparities (Kahn et
al., 2015). According to the cross sectional study performed by Achille et al., (2017), the lack of
eagerness across parents to engage in sexual health associated discussion with their children, are
due to a number of perceptions. These include parents perceiving that they lack the willingness,
skills or preparedness to initiate or involve themselves in such conversations or believe that their
children are already well-equipped with knowledge or that it is not their duty, but rather the duty
of educational institutions’ to provide sexual education. Additionally, the research by Pop and
Rusu (2015) demonstrates that merely school-based sexual educational programs are ineffective
on their own to promote healthy and safe sexual behaviour and its awareness across adolescents,

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mainly due to, inadequate implementation, untimely or premature termination of such programs
or lack of comprehensiveness in information dissemination (such as, sole prioritization on the
importance of merely sexual abstinence). Considering the rising rates of engagement in risky
sexual behaviours and their repercussions across adolescents, it is the joint responsibility of both
parents as well as educational institutions to openly and empathetically discuss with their
children on the same. Schools and colleges must specifically focus on providing sexual education
from early childhood as well as provide parent-centred sexual educational programs so as to
assist parents to engage in emotionally sound conversations at home with their children on this
sensitive yet essential topic (Neppl, Dhalewadikar & Lohman, 2016).

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References
Achille, O. A. A., Tonato, B. J. A., Salifou, K., Hounkponou, A. F., & Hounkpatin, B. I. B.
(2017). Parents’ Perceptions and Practices as Regards Adolescents’ Sex Education in the
Home Environment in the City of Come, Benin in 2015. Reprod Syst Sex Disord, 6(209),
2.
Baams, L., Dubas, J. S., Overbeek, G., & Van Aken, M. A. (2015). Transitions in body and
behavior: A meta-analytic study on the relationship between pubertal development and
adolescent sexual behavior. Journal of Adolescent Health, 56(6), 586-598.
Braje, S. E., Eddy, J. M., & Hall, G. C. (2016). A comparison of two models of risky sexual
behavior during late adolescence. Archives of sexual behavior, 45(1), 73-83.
Hentges, R. F., Shaw, D. S., & Wang, M. T. (2018). Early childhood parenting and child
impulsivity as precursors to aggression, substance use, and risky sexual behavior in
adolescence and early adulthood. Development and psychopathology, 30(4), 1305-1319.
Kahn, R. E., Holmes, C., Farley, J. P., & Kim-Spoon, J. (2015). Delay discounting mediates
parent–adolescent relationship quality and risky sexual behavior for low self-control
adolescents. Journal of youth and adolescence, 44(9), 1674-1687.
Neppl, T. K., Dhalewadikar, J., & Lohman, B. J. (2016). Harsh parenting, deviant peers,
adolescent risky behavior: Understanding the meditational effect of attitudes and
intentions. Journal of research on adolescence, 26(3), 538-551.

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Pop, M. V., & Rusu, A. S. (2015). The Role of Parents in shaping and improving the sexual
health of children–lines of developing parental sexuality education
programmes. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 209, 395-401.
Ritchwood, T. D., Ford, H., DeCoster, J., Sutton, M., & Lochman, J. E. (2015). Risky sexual
behavior and substance use among adolescents: A meta-analysis. Children and youth
services review, 52, 74-88.
Simons, L. G., Sutton, T. E., Simons, R. L., Gibbons, F. X., & Murry, V. M. (2016).
Mechanisms that link parenting practices to adolescents’ risky sexual behavior: A test of
six competing theories. Journal of youth and adolescence, 45(2), 255-270.
WHO. (2019). Sexual health. Retrieved 2 September 2019, from
https://www.who.int/topics/sexual_health/en/.

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Part B
Task 1
The report on young Australians health and wellbeing by the Australian Institute of
Health and Welfare (AIHW, 2011), provides extensive details on the rates of prevalence of
sexually transmissible infections (STIs) across young adults and adolescents belonging to 12 to
24 years of age, as a national indicator. According to this report, there has been a four-fold
increase in the incidence reporting (1045 per 100, 000 individuals) of STIs like gonorrhoea,
Chlamydia, syphilis and donovanosis across 12 to 24 year old Australians in 2011 as compared
to that reported in 1998 (280 for every 100, 000 individuals). A key sub-group specialization
within these findings, is the highest rates of STI notifications were reported among young
females in comparison to males (1399 notifications in females and as 706 notifications in males
per 100, 000 individuals) as well as in the age group of 12 to 17 years (308 in females and 82 in
males per 100, 000) in comparison to 18 to 24 years (1091 in females and 624 in males per 100,
000) respectively (AIHW, 2011). Such gender disparities in national indicators of sexual health
in terms of STI notification rates, reflect increased accessibility and availability for sexual health
testing among adolescents as well as well as an alarming rise in STI transmission in females
(Chow et al., 2015).
Comparing with Australia data, similar finding have been reported by the Sexually
Transmitted Disease Surveillance reported conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC, 2017) in the United States. According to this report, one female out of every
four females is diagnosed with a sexually transmitted Disease (STD) and the risk of acquiring
STD is higher within adolescents within the age of 15 to 19 years in comparison to young adults

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within 20 to 24 years of age. The higher prevalence of STDs in adolescent females as compared
to males, as evident in both the findings of Australia and the United States can be attributed to
cervical ectopy – which is characterized by increased spread of glandular and soft cells towards
the outer cervix surface from the inner regions of the cervical canal (Lusk et al., 2016). Likewise,
the higher prevalence of STDs across adolescents as compared to young adults, reported in both
countries, can be attributed to both increased sexual health service availability as well as delayed
waiting times, high cost of services, decreased transportation from remote areas, perceptions of
taboo and embarrassment as well as clashes between service and school or college timings (Liu
et al., 2015). Such findings indicate the need to address the sociodemographic factors
contributing to adolescent sexual health issues and behaviours rather than merely concentrating
on increasing the number of healthcare centres providing services for the same (Leichliter,
Copen & Dittus, 2017).
Task 2: Response to post by Aleya Hachem
It is indeed alarming to learn, that despite Australia’s achievement of low rates of
prevalence of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), populations like homosexual men pose
the highest risk of acquisition of the same. Such findings were found to be different to the
national indicators of STI notifications explored previously which demonstrated a higher
prevalence of STIs across adolescent females in comparison to males (AIHW, 2011). Such
discrepancies can be due to the reports lack of inclusion of HIV incidences as a part of the
diseases examined when estimating STI notification rates (AIHW, 2011). Further, such
discrepancies can also be indicative of a decreased reporting by homosexual men, possibly due
to the taboo, discrimination and stigma surrounding homosexuality across healthcare services
and healthcare professionals alike (Wilkinson et al., 2017). However, the post’s articulation of

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the higher prevalence of HIV across adolescent females (15% as compared to 4% in males) was
found to be similar to the previously reported high STI notification rates across adolescent
females (AIHW, 2011). Such similarities in STIs as well as HIV prevalence rates can be
indicative of the increased susceptibility of females to be coerced or forced into unprotected
sexual intercourse with multiple or high risk partners as compared to adolescent males (Bowring
et al., 2015). Thus, such gender differences must be considered during deliverance of sexual
health education by health organizations and hence paves the way for the need of providing
specialized education to females as well as males on the repercussions of unprotected sex and the
need to engage in consensual sexual activity (Carrotte et al., 2016).

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References
AIHW. (2011). Young Australians: their health and wellbeing 2011. Retrieved 2 September
2019, from https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/14eed34e-2e0f-441d-88cb-
ef376196f587/12750.pdf.aspx?inline=true.
Bowring, A. L., Vella, A. M., Degenhardt, L., Hellard, M., & Lim, M. S. (2015). Sexual identity,
same-sex partners and risk behaviour among a community-based sample of young people
in Australia. International Journal of Drug Policy, 26(2), 153-161.
Carrotte, E. R., Vella, A. M., Hellard, M. E., & Lim, M. S. (2016). Mental health and associated
sexual health behaviours in a sample of young people attending a music festival in
Melbourne, Victoria. Community mental health journal, 52(8), 1082-1088.
CDC. (2017). STDs in Adolescents and Young Adults - 2017 Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Surveillance. Retrieved 2 September 2019, from
https://www.cdc.gov/std/stats17/adolescents.htm.
Chow, E. P., Danielewski, J. A., Fehler, G., Tabrizi, S. N., Law, M. G., Bradshaw, C. S., ... &
Fairley, C. K. (2015). Human papillomavirus in young women with Chlamydia
trachomatis infection 7 years after the Australian human papillomavirus vaccination
programme: a cross-sectional study. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 15(11), 1314-1323.
Leichliter, J. S., Copen, C., & Dittus, P. J. (2017). Confidentiality issues and use of sexually
transmitted disease services among sexually experienced persons aged 15–25 years—
United States, 2013–2015. MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report, 66(9), 237.

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Liu, G., Hariri, S., Bradley, H., Gottlieb, S. L., Leichliter, J. S., & Markowitz, L. E. (2015).
Trends and patterns of sexual behaviors among adolescents and adults aged 14 to 59
years, United States. Sexually transmitted diseases, 42(1), 20-26.
Lusk, M. J., Garden, F. L., Rawlinson, W. D., Naing, Z. W., Cumming, R. G., & Konecny, P.
(2016). Cervicitis aetiology and case definition: a study in Australian women attending
sexually transmitted infection clinics. Sex Transm Infect, 92(3), 175-181.
Wilkinson, A. L., Pedrana, A. E., El-Hayek, C., Vella, A. M., Asselin, J., Batrouney, C., ... &
Stoové, M. (2016). The impact of a social marketing campaign on HIV and sexually
transmissible infection testing among men who have sex with men in Australia. Sexually
transmitted diseases, 43(1), 49-56.