Adolescents’ Use of the Internet for Sex Education: A Thematic and Critical Review of the Literature
- 2 August 2013
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Taylor & Francis Ltd in Journal of Psychology & Human Sexuality
- Vol. 25 (4), 305-319
- https://doi.org/10.1080/19317611.2013.823899
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.Keywords
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