Paper Title
Adolescent Sexual Well-being in the 21st Century
Keywords
- adolescent sexual well-being
- sexual health
- adolescent development
- sexuality
- healthy sex
- sexual risk
- personal security
- attachment
- self-determination
- respect
- sexual experiences
- public health
- adolescent psychology
- sexual behavior
- sexual education
- well-being perspective
- sexual rights
- emotional well-being
- youth sexuality
- developmental outcomes
- healthcare policy
- who
- cdc
- life span health
Article Type
Research Article
Journal
Research Impact Tools
Publication Info
Volume: 58 | Issue: 1 | Pages: 1–2
Published On
January, 2016
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Abstract
With this observation, Blunt et al. [1] (this issue) contribute to a more refined, clinically relevant research agenda for adolescents' sexual well-being. I shall make other comments later about the results described in this article. The authors themselves do not directly address “sexual well-being” but I believe their work contributes precisely to this topic. A sexual well-being perspective could supplant an outmoded—but still widely taken—sexual risk perspective that does not countenance the possibility of healthy sex (other than abstinence) during adolescence [2]. A sexual well-being perspective is based in notions of well-being as a developmentally appropriate outcome of the multiple types of experiences of sexuality possible during adolescence. I have focused on sexual well-being rather than the more widely used phrase “sexual health” to incorporate relevant dimensions of well-being in addition to health: personal security; attachment to others; appropriate functioning; self-determination; and respect for self and others [3]. Emphasis on well-being in sexual health is not new, although infrequently employed in relation to adolescents. Both the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention define sexual health in terms of well-being [4,5]. Even the now venerable U.S. Consensus Statement defines sexual health in terms consistent with well-being, although the term is not explicitly used [6]. However, a new literature of critique and research is beginning to operationalize adolescent sexual well-being, describe its antecedents and correlates, and link adolescent sexual health to health and well-being through the life span [7].
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