Sexual Health Education and Knowledge Among Adolescents
Summary
Adolescents occupy a critical developmental window during which comprehensive sexual health education can shape lifelong attitudes, knowledge and behaviours. Across diverse cultural and socioeconomic settings, young people often encounter fragmented curricula that vary in scope and depth, resulting in persistent knowledge gaps regarding contraception, prevention of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and healthy relationships. Effective programmes integrate age-appropriate information into school curricula, reinforce key concepts through interactive methods such as peer education and mobile platforms, and engage parents, educators and health professionals in supportive dialogue. Digital and m-Health interventions increasingly offer scalable means to deliver tailored content, while standardised patient simulations build communication skills among future clinicians. Despite measurable gains in knowledge and reductions in specific risk behaviours, barriers remain, including stigma, cultural resistance and uneven teacher preparedness.
Research from Nature Portfolio
No recent Nature Portfolio content available.
Sexual Health Education and Knowledge Among Adolescents publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in sexual health education and knowledge among adolescents across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE): A curriculum approach that provides scientifically accurate, age-appropriate information on human development, contraception, STIs, consent and healthy relationships.
Standardised Patient: A trained individual who simulates clinical scenarios for medical or nursing students to practise interpersonal communication and history-taking skills in sexual health.
m-Health (Mobile Health): The delivery of health education, behaviour-change communications and support via mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets.
Risky Sexual Behaviour (RSB): Actions that increase the likelihood of STIs or unintended pregnancy, such as unprotected intercourse, multiple partners or inconsistent contraceptive use.
Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs): Infections transmitted primarily through sexual contact, including bacterial, viral and protozoal pathogens that can affect genital, urinary and systemic health.
References
- The effectiveness of an m-Health intervention on the sexual and reproductive health of in-school adolescents: a cluster randomized controlled trial in Nigeria. Reproductive Health (2024).
- Healthcare professional students’ skills in sexual health communication and history taking: inter-rater reliability of standardized patients and faculty ratings in dar es Salaam, tanzania- a cross-sectional study. BMC Medical Education (2024).
- Assessing knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward sexually transmitted infections among Baghdad undergraduate students for research-guided sexual health education. Frontiers in Public Health (2023).
Turn complex research questions into confident strategic decisions
When you're under pressure to set direction, justify investment, or understand your competitive position, you need more than raw data — you need trusted insights you can act on.
Benchmark your performance against global peers using robust, methodologically sound analysis.
Combine quantitative metrics with qualitative expert insight to uncover strengths, gaps and emerging opportunities.
Gain tailored, decision-ready recommendations aligned to your strategic priorities.
Talk to us to learn more about our data dashboards and bespoke strategy reports.
Grow research skills, confidence and careers with training built for every stage of the research lifecycle.
Developed with Nature Portfolio journal Editors and internationally renowned experts. Discover three ways to learn:
Self-paced, online courses in convenient bite-sized units, covering key skills across scientific writing, publishing, grant writing, data analysis, and more.
Expert trainer-led workshops with hands-on exercises and real-time feedback across core research skills, delivered via interactive group sessions.
Editor-led workshops combining core principles in writing and publishing, personalised 1:1 feedback from Nature Portfolio Editors and hands-on exercises.
Explore course catalogues and workshop agendas, enquire about the options or request institutional pricing.