Abstract
A careful examination of young men's sexuality by health professionals in pediatrics,
primary care, and reproductive health is foundational to adolescent male sexual health
and healthy development. Through a review of existing published data, this article
provides background and a developmental framework for sexual health services for adolescent
boys. The article first defines and provides an overview of adolescent boys' sexual
health, and then discusses developmentally focused research on the following topics:
(1) early romantic relationships and the evolution of power and influence within these
relationships; (2) developmental “readiness” for sex and curiosity; (3) boys' need
for closeness and intimacy; (4) adopting codes of masculinity; (5) boys' communicating
about sex; and (6) contextual influences from peers, families, and providers. This
article concludes by examining the implications of these data for sexual health promotion
efforts for adolescent males, including human papillomavirus vaccination.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
January 21,
2010
Received:
November 22,
2009
Footnotes
Disclosure: This article appears in a supplement to the Journal of Adolescent Health sponsored by SciMed LLC and supported by an educational grant from Merck & Co., Inc. SciMed provided editorial support for this article. Dr. Ott received an honorarium from the accredited provider, SciMed, for her work on this article. Dr. Ott has no relevant financial relationships to disclose.
Identification
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© 2010 Society for Adolescent Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
