Three Decades of Research: The Case for Comprehensive Sex Education

School-based sex education plays a vital role in the sexual health and well-being of young people. Little is known, however, about the effectiveness of efforts beyond pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease prevention. The authors conducted a systematic literature review of three decades of resea...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of adolescent health Vol. 68; no. 1; pp. 13 - 27
Main Authors: Goldfarb, Eva S., Lieberman, Lisa D.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.01.2021
Elsevier BV
Subjects:
Abused children
Adolescent
Appreciation
Child
Child abuse & neglect
Child sexual abuse
Children & youth
comprehensive sex education
Criteria
CSE
Curricula
Dating
Disease prevention
Domestic violence
Effectiveness
Elementary education
Elementary schools
Emotional abuse
Female
Humans
Inclusive education
Intimate partner violence
Justification
K-12
Learning
LGBTQ literature
LGBTQ people
Literacy
Literature reviews
Multiculturalism & pluralism
National Sex Education Standards
National Sexuality Education Standards
Parent-child relations
Pregnancy
Schools
Sex Education
Sexual abuse
Sexual Behavior
Sexual health
Sexuality
Sexuality education
Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Social & emotional learning
Social justice
STD
Systematic Literature Review
Teams
Well being
Youth
Sex education
National Sex Education Standards
K-12
CSE
Sexuality education
Systematic Literature Review
comprehensive sex education
National Sexuality Education Standards
ISSN:1054-139X, 1879-1972, 1879-1972
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:School-based sex education plays a vital role in the sexual health and well-being of young people. Little is known, however, about the effectiveness of efforts beyond pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease prevention. The authors conducted a systematic literature review of three decades of research on school-based programs to find evidence for the effectiveness of comprehensive sex education. Researchers searched the ERIC, PsycINFO, and MEDLINE. The research team identified papers meeting the systematic literature review criteria. Of 8,058 relevant articles, 218 met specific review criteria. More than 80% focused solely on pregnancy and disease prevention and were excluded, leaving 39. In the next phase, researchers expanded criteria to studies outside the U.S. to identify evidence reflecting the full range of topic areas. Eighty articles constituted the final review. Outcomes include appreciation of sexual diversity, dating and intimate partner violence prevention, development of healthy relationships, prevention of child sex abuse, improved social/emotional learning, and increased media literacy. Substantial evidence supports sex education beginning in elementary school, that is scaffolded and of longer duration, as well as LGBTQ–inclusive education across the school curriculum and a social justice approach to healthy sexuality. Review of the literature of the past three decades provides strong support for comprehensive sex education across a range of topics and grade levels. Results provide evidence for the effectiveness of approaches that address a broad definition of sexual health and take positive, affirming, inclusive approaches to human sexuality. Findings strengthen justification for the widespread adoption of the National Sex Education Standards.
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ISSN:1054-139X
1879-1972
1879-1972
DOI:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.07.036