MOAPPP December 2010 E-Monthly

Amazon.com and Holiday Gift Giving

Why not give holiday gifts this year that also give back? Find the perfect gift for everyone on your list this season at Amazon.com Gift Central. Link to amazon.com by way of MOAPPP’s website and MOAPPP will receive a percentage of the sale. A link to amazon.com appears on the left-side navigation bar on every page of MOAPPP’s website for your convenience. Remember to make all of your amazon.com purchases through MOAPPP!

Year End Charitable Giving

Many people do their charitable giving in December so that they receive the tax deduction for that calendar year. Please consider making a fully tax-deductible donation to MOAPPP as part of your year-end giving. For more information about the scope of our work, review our 2009 Annual Report (PDF). Click here to make a difference for Minnesota’s youth today!

Call for Exhibitors for MOAPPP’s 20th Annual Conference, May 5-6, 2011

Please join us as an exhibitor for the 20th Annual MOAPPP Conference, May 5-6, 2011 at the Earle Brown Heritage Center in Brooklyn Center. The MOAPPP Conference convenes approximately 400 social service and health care providers, educators, advocates, program directors and youth who work to promote adolescent sexual health, prevent adolescent pregnancy, HIV and STIs, and support pregnant and parenting teens in Minnesota. Visit the conference page of the MOAPPP website for more information and an application.

Curriculum Review Panel Recruiting New Panel Members for 2011

Looking for a new place to receive professional development, network and learn about various resources? MOAPPP convenes the Minnesota Sexuality Education Resource Review Panel (MSERRP) to review and recommend sexuality education and HIV prevention curricula and resources for use in schools and communities. We are seeking new panel members for the coming year. We are looking for individuals who are committed to comprehensive sexuality education and who represent a variety of perspectives and experiences. If you have questions about the panel or are interested in serving on MSERRP, please contact Jocelyn Broyles at [email protected]. Download the application here (PDF). Applications are due Monday, January 9, 2011.

New Resource on It’s That Easy! (ITE) Initiative Website – Find ITE Parent Educator Link

We are excited to announce a new resource: the Find ITE Parent Educator button on the ITE Initiative website. Consider using this resource when looking for professionals to present to parents/clients of children ages zero-18 years. ITE Parent Educators are able to present on a variety of topics around raising sexually healthy children. To find an ITE Parent Educator in your area, enter your zip code—it’s just that easy!

Have you attended an ITE Parent Educator training, but aren’t able to locate your information on the Find ITE Educator page? To be included, contact Jocelyn Broyles at [email protected].

Other Announcements

Minnesota Transgender Health Coalition Support Group

The MN Transgender Health Coalition is offering a weekly support group for all gender variant folks no matter where they are in their transition. The group meets from 5:30-7:00 p.m. at 3405 Chicago Avenue, Suite 103 in Minneapolis. Topics discussed will include hormone use, safe syringe use, HIV and Hep C, safer sex, medical referrals, weekly check-in, surgery discussions, and name/gender change info. View the flyer (PDF). The Coalition also hosts a shot clinic for those injecting hormones. Read more about the clinic here (PDF).

For Youth

Check Out the New StayTeen.org

Stay Teen—The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy’s website for youth—is new and improved. Check it out at www.stayteen.org.

Rainbow Health Initiative Recruiting for LGBTQ Pregnancy Project

Rainbow Health Initiative is currently recruiting youth and young adults who meet the following criteria: they are female-born, they have identified or currently identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer, they have been or are currently pregnant, and they are between ages 18 and 25. Eligible participants will take part in a one hour, face-to-face interview and be paid $25 cash. For more information, visit the Rainbow Health Initiative website.

In the News

2010 Minnesota Student Survey: Sexual Health Data Not So Positive

Many Minnesota teens are making smart choices about behavior that affects their health, education and safety according to the Minnesota Student Survey data report released in November from the Departments of Education, Health, Human Services and Public Safety. But one set of data was missing from the state’s press release: data on sexual activity. Those data tell a different story: more high school students are having sex and fewer are using condoms. Perhaps more concerning is the fact that fewer students list “being afraid” of pregnancy or sexually transmitted infections as a reason not to have sex. MOAPPP created a short report (PDF) showing the changes since 2007. Watch the story that Fox News did about the report here.

New Resources

Social Media Toolkit Now Available!

Social media can be a powerful tool for disseminating health messages. This toolkit is designed to help you get started in social media by providing information for developing governance for social media, determining which channels will best meet your communication objectives, and helping you create a social media strategy. You will also learn about popular channels you can incorporate into your plan—like blogs, video-sharing sites, RSS feeds and mobile applications. For more social media information and tools, as well as to see current social media campaigns, visit www.cdc.gov.

Faith Resource Center

The Faith Resource Center, from the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, is designed to provide visitors with materials on how teen and unplanned pregnancy prevention can be addressed in faith settings. The Center includes links to sermons, counseling resources, proclamations and mission statements, and other resources for the faith community. Visit the website here.

Condom Distribution as a Structural Level Intervention

This fact sheet (PDF) from the CDC discusses how structural-level condom distribution interventions or programs are efficacious in increasing condom use, increasing condom acquisition or condom carrying, promoting delayed sexual initiation or abstinence among youth, and reducing incident STIs.

New Research

ADHD, Conduct Disorder and Young Adult Intimate Partner Violence

This study examined 11,238 participants in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Conduct disorder is consistently associated with violence in intimate relationships. Controlling for CD, there is also an association between ADHD and IPV. Results suggest the need for services and treatment strategies that specifically address the risks for violence and promote healthy intimate relationships for youths with CD and ADHD.

The Characteristics of Romantic Relationships Associated with Teen Dating Violence

This study explores specific features of adolescent romantic relationships associated with the perpetration of physical violence. Relying on personal interviews with a sample of 956 adolescents, results indicate that respondents who self-report violence perpetration are significantly more likely than their non-violent counterparts to report higher levels of other problematic relationship dynamics and behaviors such as jealousy, verbal conflict, and cheating. However, we find no significant differences in levels of love, intimate self-disclosure, or perceived partner caring, and violent relationships are, on average, characterized by longer duration, more frequent contact, sexual intimacy and higher scores on the provision and receipt of instrumental support. Finally, violence is associated with the perception of a relatively less favorable power balance, particularly among male respondents.

Link Between Viewing X-Rated Material and Perpetration of Sexually Aggressive Behavior Among Children and Adolescents

This study examined longitudinal linkages between intentional exposure to x-rated material and sexually aggressive behavior among youth 10-15 year olds surveyed nationally in the United States over a 36-month time frame. An average of five percent of youth reported perpetrating sexually aggressive behavior and 23 percent of youth reported intentional exposure to x-rated material. After adjusting for other potentially influential characteristics, we found that intentional exposure to violent x-rated material over time predicted an almost six-fold increase in the odds of self-reported sexually aggressive behavior, whereas exposure to nonviolent x-rated material was not statistically significantly related. Associations were similar for boys and girls.

Recent Changes in the Trends of Adolescent Birth Rates, 1981-2006

This study explores trends in the adolescent birth rate using select demographics. Study authors ultimately found a decline in birth rates for adolescents younger than 18 from 1994 to 2003, and a decline for slightly older (18-19) youth that began in 1991 and did not end until 2004. Authors conclude that teen birth rates were generally level during 2003/2004-2006 after the long-term declines, but rates increased among older Hispanic teens. Results indicate a need for renewed attention to effective adolescent pregnancy prevention programs in specific high-risk populations.

Large-Scale Survey Investigates the Sexual Behavior of Americans

In the largest nationally representative and comprehensive study on sexual behavior ever conducted in the United States, The National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior recently discovered that condom use was highest among teens ages 14-17, among other important findings. The report, released in October 2010, shows that 80 percent of males and 69 percent of females ages 14-17 reported having used a condom during last sexual intercourse, compared to an average of 61 percent for the same age group in 2009. Apart from condom usage among all participants, the study also provided a description of more than 40 combinations of sexual acts that people have performed during sexual intercourse, as well as the percentage of Americans who have participated in same-sex encounters. Visit this website for more information on the study.

Registering Harm: How Sex Offense Registries Fail Youth and Communities

After explaining and critiquing the features of the Federal Adam Walsh Act—particularly the provision that requires states to include children as young as age 14 on sex offender registries—this paper (PDF) offers recommendations for reforming federal and State legislation and policies pertaining to sex offender registries.

Adolescence, Pornography and Harm

This paper (PDF) examines the many factors that underpin pornography exposure, and stresses how the risk factors for exposure and problematic sexual behaviors intersect to contribute to harm. An understanding of the complex interplay of factors such as gender, age, attitude, personal characteristics and social context of use is important in the development of strategies that will assist young people to avoid any potential adverse outcomes. The available evidence remains highly incomplete, and its interpretation is highly contested, so the paper highlights the need for longitudinal studies of use and of actual behavior, and for studies that focus on cultural contexts and emerging media.

Intrafamilial Adolescent Sex Offenders: Psychological Profile and Treatment

This paper (PDF) examines the nature and causes of adolescent intra-familial sex offending (IASO) and which treatment approaches are likely to be successful. Findings show that IASOs have greater developmental trauma and family dysfunction than adult sex offenders. Programs that combine a variety of treatment modalities show more promising outcomes. It is recommended that a need to understand adolescent sex offending as a health issue, rather than a moral one, allows for interventions that have the best possible chance of changing sexually inappropriate behavior and ending the inter-generational transmission of abuse.

Teen Athletes More Likely to Be Sexually Active than Nonathletes; Also More Likely to Use Condoms

Previous studies suggest that student athletes may be less likely than nonathletes to engage in sexual behavior, but this study found contrary results. Young people who reported daily participation in sports had an elevated risk of ever having had intercourse and ever having had oral sex than their peers who did not play a sport daily. The increases in risk were greater for middle school sports participants than for their high school counterparts. However, daily sports participants were more likely to use a condom at last intercourse. The authors conclude that health professionals should counsel middle school athletes about sexual risk reduction, given that young students may find it particularly difficult to obtain contraceptives, STD testing and prevention counseling. Read the abstract here.

Follow-Up Phone Calls to Adolescent Clinic Clients Fail to Improve Contraceptive Use

An intervention in which adolescent clinic clients in San Francisco received multiple follow-up telephone calls that incorporated motivational interviewing techniques failed to improve contraceptive behaviors. The authors found that the intervention did not have an impact on levels of condom use or on use of hormonal methods of birth control. They report that reaching young women by phone after a clinic visit for contraception was challenging: Clinic counselors completed only 30 percent of the nine follow-up calls attempted in the year following participants’ initial visit and made 7.8 attempts for every completed call. The researchers suggest that more intensive interventions may be needed to markedly improve teens’ sexual and contraceptive behavior. Read the abstract here.

Early Exposure to Parents’ Relationship Instability: Implications for Sexual Behavior and Depression in Adolescence

Authors assessed whether the timing of parents’ relationship instability predicted adolescents’ history of sexual partnerships and major depressive episodes. Participants who experienced parents’ relationship instability before age five were more likely to report sexual partnerships at age 16 or an episode of major depression during adolescence. Read the full article (PDF).

Effects of Self-Esteem and Academic Performance on Adolescent Decision-Making: An Examination of Early Sexual Intercourse and Illegal Substance Use

The author assessed whether higher self-esteem and higher academic performance among youth reduce the likelihood of early sexual intercourse and illegal substance use. Among virginal adolescents, higher self-esteem at baseline had no effect on sexual debut one year later. However, higher self-esteem at baseline among females corresponded with a significantly lower likelihood of illegal substance use one year later. In terms of academic performance at baseline, girls with higher academic performance were were significantly less likely to initiate sexual intercourse. Higher academic performance was also associated with lower odds of illegal substance use. Among young boys, self-esteem and academic performance were not significantly predictive of illegal substance use. This study suggests that bolstering self-esteem and improving academic performance among young girls may have specific benefits in sexual decision-making and substance-related risk-taking. Read the abstract here.

MOAPPP Events

February 24, 2011
Meeting the Unique Needs of Adolescent Mothers and Fathers

9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Minnesota Department of Education
1500 Highway 36 West, Roseville

Adolescent parent programs strive to facilitate long-term self-sufficiency, build parenting capacity and ensure the healthy growth and development of the children born to young parents. This workshop examines adolescent development; national and state data related to adolescent parents; systems that impact adolescent parents; strengths, opportunities and challenges young parents bring to their new role; and current research on best practices for working with adolescent parents. Participants will also learn practical tips for helping adolescent parents understand their children’s perspective, fun ways to communicate parenting concepts and other activities for use with young families.

For more information, see the flyer and registration form (PDF). Click here to register online. Questions? Contact Sue at 651.644.1447 x 15, [email protected].

Coalition for Responsible Sex Ed Events

MOAPPP is a founding member of the Coalition for Responsible Sex Ed. The Coalition advocates for policies on sexuality education and access to confidential health care for minors. Here is a list of Coalition events for 2010. For additional information, visit www.coalitionforsexed.org.

No Coalition events in December.

Other Events

January 12, February 2, March 9 & May 11, 2011
Youth Development Brown Bag Webinar Series

“Being an Ally to LGBTQ Youth,” Kara Gravely-Stack & Joshua A. Boschee
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
“Underage Drinking: Implications for communities,” Dr. Sharon Query
Wednesday, February 2, 2011 (re-scheduled from November to February)
The 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development: What have we learned?,” Dr. Sharon Query
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
“Communicating with the Net Generation,” Kari Robideau, M.S. & Karyn Santi, M.Ed.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Extension Services of North Dakota State University and the University of Minnesota are partnering to offer a series of six webinars on youth development topics. Each webinar will provide live, interactive learning experiences that you can participate in at your own computer over the lunch hour. Participants are able to ask the instructor questions and get answers in real time while the presenter conducts discussions, questions and polls. For more information and to register, visit www.ndsu.edu.

January 21, February 18 & March 11, 2011
Every Student Connected Workshop Series

Location: To Be Determined

January 21, 2011: Connecting with Native American Students and Families
February 18, 2011: Alternatives to Suspension
March 11, 2011: Best Practices for Cultural and Family Liaisons.

The Every Student Connected Workshop series is sponsored by The Family Partnership (formerly Family & Children’s Service). Please contact Jeannette Raymond at [email protected] or 612.728.2093 to sign up for email notices regarding upcoming workshops. Also contact Jeannette with suggestions of cultural and family liaisons who might present in March to an audience of about 100 people.

January 24-25, 2011
Minnesota Fatherhood & Family Services Summit

Kelly Inn, St. Cloud

Mark your calendars for the Minnesota Fatherhood & Family Services Summit. Keynote presenters include Bill Doherty (MN), Carolyn and Phil Cowan (CA), and Michael Hayes (TX). Presenters will address topics of co-parenting, family relationships, parenting and paternity education, child well-being and much more.

This conference is ideal for professionals working in areas of corrections, child support, child welfare, early education, early childhood programming, fatherhood programs, family law, teen pregnancy prevention, maternal/child health, family relations, social work, violence prevention and related fields. For more information and to register, visit www.mnfathers.org.