NOTE TO EDITORS: The December 2009 issue of Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, a quarterly, peer-reviewed professional journal published by the Guttmacher Institute, features the following:

Hispanic women who immigrated to the United States, whether as young children or later in childhood or adolescence, report less risky sexual behavior in early adulthood than do U.S.-born Hispanic women, according to "Risky Sexual Behaviors Among Hispanic Young Adults in South Florida: Nativity, Age at Immigration and Gender Differences," by Ursula Keller Weiss and Kathryn Harker Tillman. The authors collected data from a sample of 709 Hispanic individuals in South Florida between 1998 and 2000, and found that smaller proportions of sexually experienced immigrant women than of those born in the United States reported having had vaginal or oral sex in the past year; those who had immigrated at age six or older reported less drug use in conjunction with sex, as well as fewer lifetime sexual partners, than their U.S.-born peers. Levels of condom use did not differ between immigrant and U.S.-born women, and men’s levels of risky behavior did not differ by nativity. The authors suggest that a better understanding of the factors behind these differences could help professionals develop more effective education and prevention programs for Hispanic teens and young adults.

The younger siblings of teenage mothers experience family dynamics that may increase their risk of becoming teen parents themselves or that may help reduce their risk, according to "How an Adolescent’s Childbearing Affects Siblings’ Pregnancy Risk: A Qualitative Study of Mexican American Youths," by Patricia L. East et al. The authors analyzed data collected in 2005–2007 from a sample of 41 Mexican American teens from Southern California, and identified a number of risk and protective factors that could influence the younger siblings of teen parents. The most common risk factors were that youths did not perceive early parenting as a hardship, had increased difficulties in school and wanted to have a baby too. The most common protective factors were an increased motivation to avoid early parenting, an increased appreciation of the difficulties of parenting, mothers’ explicitly discouraging early parenting and youths’ feeling of greater closeness with their mother. The authors suggest that teen pregnancy interventions that build on the protective factors while reducing the risk factors might help families prevent their younger children from becoming involved in a teen pregnancy.

In-depth interviews with 25 couples at high risk of HIV identified a disconnect between public health recommendations for safer-sex practices and the behaviors of individuals within these relationships, according to "A Little Thing Called Love: Condom Use in High-Risk Primary Heterosexual Relationships," by A. Michelle Corbett et al. Participants reported that their nonuse of condoms with their primary partner was a strategy to find and maintain a relationship, establish trust and increase intimacy. Many reported engaging in unprotected sex while recognizing their risk of HIV and other STDs, thereby placing their love for their partner and other emotional needs over concerns about their personal health and safety. On the basis of the study findings, the authors recommend that interventions consider the context of sex and how STD prevention measures mesh with couples’ emotional and social needs.

Young people who think that having an STD would be stigmatizing are less likely than others to undergo testing, according to "Relationships Between Perceived STD-Related Stigma, STD-Related Shame and STD Screening Among a Household Sample of Adolescents," by Shayna D. Cunningham et al. STD-related shame did not have the same association with testing. The authors gathered data from 594 sexually active 15–24-year-olds in urban households and found that a large proportion of teens do not seek STD screening or decline to be tested in the absence of symptoms. Only 37% of males and 70% of females reported having had an STD test in the past year, most commonly because it had been part of a routine medical checkup. The authors recommend that health care providers be vigilant in asking youth about their sexual behaviors and offer STD screening to all sexually active teens. They also suggest that providers broach the topic with their patients in a way that does not add to perceptions of stigma.

Speculation—and a decade of abstinence-only sex education teaching—that sex outside of a committed romantic relationship may be psychologically harmful to young people seems to be unfounded, according to "Casual Sex and Psychological Health Among Sexually Active Young Adults: Is Having ‘Friends with Benefits’ Emotionally Damaging?" by Marla E. Eisenberg et al. Data from a sample of young adults participating in a longitudinal study in Minnesota shows that a large majority of sexually active young people are involved in committed or exclusive relationships, but that those who engage in casual sexual encounters are at no greater risk of psychological harm. The authors suggest that programs for teens should focus on the health risks of sexual activity such as STDs, given the inconsistency of condom use among this age-group.

Measuring women’s intentions to become pregnant and whether they planned for pregnancy can be complex, and according to "Prospective Assessment of Pregnancy Intentions Using a Single- Versus a Multi-Item Measure," by Megan L. Kavanaugh and Eleanor Bimla Schwarz, typical measures have not fully captured how much ambivalence exists toward pregnancy. The authors attempt to assess pregnancy intentions more accurately than previous studies have by measuring women’s feelings about a possible pregnancy prospectively rather than retrospectively, and by using measures that go beyond traditional dichotomous indicators. Survey data gathered from women in Pittsburgh family planning clinics revealed that more women were ambivalent about pregnancy than were either planning or not planning pregnancies. Ambivalence toward pregnancy has been associated with less effective or nonuse of birth control. The authors suggest that better understanding the reasons for and nature of women’s ambivalence toward pregnancy can help providers tailor contraceptive and preconception counseling to women’s individual needs.

Few recent studies have examined the extent to which early sexual activity affects educational attainment. "Detailed Educational Pathways Among Females After Very Early Sexual Intercourse," by Nicole R. Steward et al., analyzes data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study to examine this relationship, and finds that women who first have sex before age 15 are much less likely than teens who have sex later to graduate from high school and from college. Teens’ marrying or having a child before their expected high school graduation date also has a negative association with their educational achievements; however, these associations explain only part of the relationship between early sex and high school or college completion. The authors suggest that programs that target early parenthood and marriage and that provide hope for future educational opportunities could lessen the impact of early sex for young women.