A study by researchers at New York University has found that discussing sexuality with adolescents and raising their awareness of risky behaviours yields positive results.

The randomised clinical trial involving 11 to 14 year olds was led by Vincent Guilamo-Ramos, a New York University professor specialising in adolescent sexual risk behaviours.

Published in the journal Pediatrics, the study evaluated the effectiveness of the “Families Talking Together” (FTT) programme.

Highlighting the educational role of parents, FTT was designed to prevent and/or reduce sexual risk behaviour among Latino and African-American adolescents in the US.

A total of 900 families (mothers and adolescents) who were recruited from a paediatric clinic in the Bronx, New York, took part in the study.

The FTT intervention consisted of a 45-minute session in which the mothers educated adolescents about the various risks associated with sexuality (unwanted pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, etc.).

Health professionals subsequently evaluated the content of the intervention three months later, and a year later. The effectiveness of the program was tested by asking the adolescents questions, notably with regard to sexual intercourse and condom use.

After 12 months, five percent of adolescents in the intervention group reported having had sexual intercourse, compared with 18% of adolescents in the control group who did not take part in the FTT program.

In the intervention group, 74% of sexually active adolescents reported using a condom the last time they had sexual intercourse and 4% of adolescents reported having had sexual intercourse for the first time in the last 12 months, as opposed to to 49% and 14%, respectively, among adolescents who did not participate in the FTT intervention.

“The research suggests that the FTT triadic intervention is efficacious in delaying sexual debut and reducing sexual risk behaviour among adolescents,” conclude the authors of the study.