Study Design
In partnership with a community-based after-school program we recruited 26, 10 to 14 year-olds to participate in focus groups. During the focus groups, we asked each adolescent to design a poster that advised their peers to “wait to have sex until they are much older so they can achieve their future goals and dreams” and instructed them to choose from the selection of images and messages we provided or to generate their own content. After the posters had been created, each adolescent explained to the group why they thought their poster would be effective. We then analyzed the posters and audio recordings of the explanations to determine the health promotion messages that the adolescents found most persuasive.
What We Found
The majority of the posters contained messages and images about both the benefits of waiting to have sex until you are older as well as the consequences of having sex at a young age. The most common benefit of waiting to have sex that appeared on the posters was focused on academic achievement. For example, the adolescents made statements such as “By not having sex at a young age you are more likely to get an education and reach your goals.” The most common consequences of having sex at a young age that appeared on the posters focused on the risk of pregnancy and HIV/AIDS. For example, the posters displayed messages such as “Having sex at a young age can lead to a sexually transmitted infection, HIV, or pregnancy.” These preliminary data show that young adolescents may prefer a combination of positive and negative messages in health materials to promote reduction in sexual risk behaviors. We used these findings to inform the messages about safe sex that appear in our game PlayForward: Elm City Stories.