The birds and the bees: do Puerto Rican mothers and daughters talk about sex?

Introduction: Effective communication skills that foster responsible sexual decisions are known to have the potential to reduce the risky adolescent sexual behavior. It is well understood that maternal communication is a key element in modifying the adolescent sexual behavior. The objective of this qualitative study was to explore if Puerto Rican mothers of adolescent girls have conversations about sexuality with their daughters and the content of such conversations.

Levels of felt stigma among a group of people with HIV in Puerto Rico.

Objective: HIV felt stigma is a major problem needing to be addressed because of its association with poor treatment adherence, decreases in help-seeking behaviors, high-risk sexual conduct, emotional discomfort, and the reduction of well-being in people with HIV/AIDS (PWHA). The aim of this study was to identify the frequency of felt stigma among PWHA in Puerto Rico.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 249 subjects (59% men, 41% women).

An overview of reported youth violence in Puerto Rico.

Objectives: The purpose of this paper is to describe the prevalence of school and youth violence in Puerto Rico based on several representative samples surveyed in the Island during the 1990's.

Background: Reviewing the available data on youth violence is necessary in order to decide the best strategies to follow in developing new ways to prevent and monitor it.

Methods: Three surveys were reviewed in this paper: The Youth Risk Behavior Survey conducted by the Center for Disease Control (1991, 1995, 1997); The Methods for the Epidemiology of Child and Adolescent Mental Disorders Study (1991); and the Youth Survey (1997-98).