UC Berkeley

It is widely agreed that sexuality is an important aspect of adolescent development, and the combination of developmental transitions can leave adolescents vulnerable to negative sexual health outcomes. Sexuality education has the potential to positively support sexuality development and influence sexual health outcomes. However, evidence suggests that current approaches to sexuality education are not adequately meeting adolescent sexual health and development needs. The incorporation of a more clearly defined developmentally-appropriate approach may be one way to strengthen these programs.

Through this dissertation, I aim to inform future directions for sexuality education by assessing and analyzing current understandings of the construct of developmentally-appropriate sexuality education and highlighting where gaps exist between the scientific knowledge base on adolescent development and current practice in sexuality education.

In the first paper, "Developmentally appropriate sexuality education: Implications of adolescent development research," I broadly review the research pertaining to adolescent development, adolescent sexuality development specifically, and adolescent motivation, and note the limitations of this research. Finally, I discuss the implications of this research for sexuality education, including determining developmentally appropriate content and educational strategies, and making accommodations for developmental diversity.

In the second paper, "Conceptualizing developmentally appropriate sexuality education: Perspectives from the field," I report on findings from 18 in-depth interviews with sexuality educators and sexuality education materials developers. Four aspects of developmentally appropriate sexuality education that emerged consistently across interviews are discussed: (1) addressing developmentally relevant topics, (2) adapting content to cognitive development, (3) accommodating developmental diversity, and (4) facilitating the internalization of sexual health messages. In addition, challenges and barriers to the institutionalization of a more comprehensive and integrated approach to developmentally appropriate sexuality education are described.

And finally, in the third paper, "Is current sexuality education developmentally appropriate? A content analysis of popular curricula," I identify the extent to which 5 popular sexuality education curricula, designated for middle and high school aged adolescents, use developmentally appropriate educational strategies according to the criteria discussed in papers 1 and 2.

As a whole, this dissertation highlights the need for further attention to the concept of developmental appropriateness and its application to sexuality education.