|
iDEA: Drexel E-repository and Archives >
Drexel Theses and Dissertations >
Health Sciences Theses and Dissertations >
Teens, Sex and the Internet: A Pilot Study on the Internet and its Impact on Adolescent health and Sexuality
Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
http://hdl.handle.net/1860/3087
|
| Title: | Teens, Sex and the Internet: A Pilot Study on the Internet and its Impact on Adolescent health and Sexuality |
| Authors: | Cohn, Daran |
| Keywords: | Teens
Adolescents
Sex
Internet
Public Health |
| Issue Date: | 21-Aug-2009 |
| Abstract: | PROBLEM: Parents, teachers, and healthcare providers have been struggling to negotiate their
changing roles and responsibilities with adolescents who are now growing up in a digital world.
This study explored the ways that the Internet may both help and harm adolescent health and
development, including adolescent understanding about human sexuality, attitudes about the
sexual world, and sexual behaviors. METHODS: High school students and their parents/primary
caretakers from a private urban school with a diverse student body participated in a mixed
methods study. For the quantitative component, a convenience sample of eight high school
students and their parents/primary caretakers completed a survey with five general themes:
demographics, communication, knowledge, attitudes/beliefs and Internet behaviors. Teens’
responses were compared to parent responses. For the qualitative component, nine high school
students and four parents/primary caretakers of high school students participated in focus group
discussions (one focus group with three teen girls and one focus group with six teen boys for the
student focus groups, and one focus group with four parents for the parent focus group). The
focus groups used a semi-structured format to explore three themes: learning about health, using
the Internet, and determining the nature and extent of what is learned from the Internet about
health and sexuality. RESULTS: The results of this study indicate that among teens who
participated, a primary resource for learning about sex and obtaining sexual health information
was the Internet. A popular online source for learning was Internet pornography, particularly
among boys. Parents were unaware of this as well as their teens’ use of the Internet for learning
about sex. While parents and teens were somewhat comfortable talking to each other about sex in
general, parents were not a primary resource teens referred to when they had questions about
sexual behavior. SIGNIFICANCE: The quantitative and qualitative components provided further
insight into why and how teens are learning about sex from the Internet and how the Internet
affects adolescent sexuality, sexual health and development. Results will guide the development
of future research and materials provide guidance for parents and other adults in effectively
helping teens navigate the benefits and dangers to adolescent health that exist in the online
environment. |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/1860/3087 |
| Appears in Collections: | Health Sciences Theses and Dissertations
|
Items in iDEA are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.
|
www.drexel.edu
