Abstract

The sexual health of adolescents globally and in the USA remains a significant public health challenge. No evidence-based sexual health education programs exist that specifically target refugee adolescents. The purpose of this exploratory study was to describe the impact of an evidence-based sexual health education program previously demonstrated effectiveness in nonrefugee populations on refugee adolescents’ sexual health attitudes, beliefs, intentions and behaviors using minor adaptations to the curriculum. This analysis used a subsample of adolescents from refugee or immigrant backgrounds who participated in a community-based sexuality education program, Reach One Teach One-North Dakota (ROTO-ND). Previously validated scaled survey items were used to assess participants’ sexual health beliefs, self-efficacy, knowledge of sexual health resources, and behaviors. Summary statistics were calculated for sociodemographic characteristics categorized by length of time living in the USA. Bivariate unpaired comparisons demonstrated significant differences in the entire cohort on pre- to post-intervention scores on all outcome measures and scales while controlling for program attendance. Participant (n = 103) mean age was 16 and the majority were male (58%). The present study provides evidence that existing evidence-based interventions not intended to target refugee youth may contribute to meeting the unique sexual health education needs of refugee youth with minor adaptations.

摘要

全球和美国青少年的性健康仍然是一项重大的公共卫生挑战。不存在专门针对难民青少年的循证性健康教育计划。这项探索性研究的目的是描述一个循证性健康教育计划的影响，该计划先前在非难民人群中使用对课程的轻微调整对难民青少年的性健康态度、信仰、意图和行为产生了影响。该分析使用了来自难民或移民背景的青少年的子样本，这些青少年参加了基于社区的性教育计划，Reach One Teach One-North Dakota (ROTO-ND)。之前经过验证的量表调查项目用于评估参与者的性健康信念、自我效能感、性健康资源知识、和行为。根据在美国居住的时间长度分类的社会人口学特征计算汇总统计数据。双变量非配对比较表明，在控制项目出勤率的同时，整个队列在所有结果测量和量表的干预前和干预后得分方面存在显着差异。参加者（n  = 103) 平均年龄为 16 岁，大多数为男性 (58%)。本研究提供的证据表明，现有的并非旨在针对难民青年的循证干预措施可能有助于满足难民青年独特的性健康教育需求，只需稍作调整。