Influences on adolescent sexuality in Nigeria and Kenya: findings from recent focus-group discussions.

Continuing high rates of adolescent childbearing in sub-Saharan Africa indicate a need for improved understanding of factors affecting adolescent sexuality. As traditional cultural influences on adolescent sexuality in Africa have diminished, peer interaction and modern influences have gained importance. To study peer interaction and societal factors and their impact on adolescent attitudes toward sexuality and contraception, the authors conducted a series of single-sex-focus-group discussions with in-school and out-of-school youth in urban and rural areas of Kenya and Nigeria in 1990.

Adolescent knowledge and attitudes about abortion.

A focus-group study of adolescents from cities across the United States revealed that they lacked accurate knowledge about abortion and the laws governing it. Most expressed erroneous beliefs about abortion, describing it as medically dangerous, emotionally damaging and widely illegal. The study also revealed that antiabortion views, conservative morality and religious beliefs were the primary sources of these adolescents' attitudes toward abortion.

Six school-based clinics: their reproductive health services and impact on sexual behavior.

An evaluation of the reproductive health programs of six diverse school-based clinics measured the impact of the clinics on sexual behavior and contraceptive use. All six clinics served low-income populations; at five of them, the great majority of the students served were black. An analysis of student visits by type of care given found that these clinics were not primarily family planning facilities; rather, they provided reproductive health care as one component of a comprehensive health program.