Articles: adolescent.
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Having presented an overview of the available methods of contraception, the authors present one approach to prescribing contraceptives based on their experience. First, adolescent patients in our practice are discouraged from engaging in sexual intercourse. Abstinence is the only fail-safe method of contraception and provides benefits both emotionally and physically (i.e., prevention from sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies). ⋯ One recent study demonstrated certain patient characteristics that were associated with good compliance with oral contraceptives, including white race, higher education level, suburban residence, and older age of both the patient and her mate. Keeping these characteristics in mind may be helpful when prescribing oral contraceptives. Of course, it is the patient's prerogative to choose the type of contraception she feels will be best suited for her.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
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Review Comparative Study
Contraception in The Netherlands: the low abortion rate explained.
This article gives a review of the main factors that are related to the low abortion rate in the Netherlands. Attention is payed to figures on abortion and the use of contraceptive methods since the beginning of the 1960s up to the end of the 1980s. ⋯ A reduction of unwanted pregnancies has been accomplished through successful strategies for the prevention of teenage pregnancy (including sex education, open discussions on sexuality in mass media, educational campaigns and low barrier services) as well as through wide acceptance of sterilization. The Dutch experience with family planning shows the following characteristics: a strong wish to reduce reliance on abortion, ongoing sexual and contraceptive education related to the actual experiences of the target groups, and low barrier family planning services.
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The growth literature from developing countries is reviewed to assess the extent to which stunting, a phenomenon of early childhood, can be reversed in later childhood and adolescence. The potential for catch-up growth increases as maturation is delayed and the growth period is prolonged. ⋯ Improvements in living conditions, as through food supplementation or through adoption, trigger catch-up growth but do so more effectively in the very young. One study cautions that in older adopted subjects, accelerated growth may accelerate maturation, shorten the growth period and lead to short adult stature.
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Sexuality and power relations based on gender are relevant to researchers, policymakers, and service providers in the reproductive health field, because they underlie virtually all of the behaviors and conditions that their programs address. Yet, a review of conventional treatments in the demographic and family planning literature reveals that, when they consider these topics at all, researchers typically adopt narrow definitions of sexual behavior and focus almost exclusively on risks of pregnancy and disease. This article proposes an analytic framework as a guide to researchers and family planning providers. It relates four dimensions of sexuality to reproductive health outcomes and concludes that family planning policies and programs should address a broader spectrum of sexual behaviors and meanings, consider questions of sexual enjoyment as well as risk, and confront ideologies of male entitlement that threaten women's sexual and reproductive rights and health.
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Behavior modification · Apr 1993
ReviewRelations between social skills and high-risk sexual interactions among adolescents. Current issues and future directions.
Researchers have begun to employ social-skills training in efforts to change the sexual behavior of adolescents. However, despite the promise of social-skills training, little is known about how social skills are related to the sexual practices of adolescents. The present article reviews the current literature and proposes a conceptual framework for understanding the relations between social skills and sexual behavior of adolescents by (a) examining the relationship between sexual activity and social skills, (b) examining the development of sexual-interaction skills and deficits, (c) summarizing what is currently known about the relations between social skills and sexual behavior, (d) discussing current issues in the assessment and treatment of sexual-interaction skills deficits, and (e) proposing some directions for needed research that will add both to our current knowledge base and to the effectiveness of applied intervention efforts.