TY - JOUR PY - 2018// TI - Sexual risk outcomes of an emotion regulation intervention for at-risk early adolescents JO - Pediatrics A1 - Houck, Christopher D. A1 - Barker, David H. A1 - Hadley, Wendy A1 - Menefee, Maya A1 - Brown, Larry K. SP - ePub EP - ePub VL - 141 IS - 6 N2 - OBJECTIVE: With this study, we examined the efficacy of a health intervention program that was focused on emotion regulation (ER) skills in reducing sexual risk behaviors among early adolescents with suspected mental health symptoms.

METHODS: Seventh grade adolescents with suspected mental health symptoms participated in a 6-week, after-school sexual risk prevention trial in which a counterbalanced, within-school design comparing an ER focused program to a time- and attention-matched comparison group was used. Adolescents completed a computer-based survey regarding their sexual behavior at 6-month intervals for 2.5 years.

RESULTS: Adolescents who received ER skills training exhibited a delay in the transition to vaginal sex over 30 months compared with those in the comparison condition (adjusted hazard ratio = 0.61; 95% confidence interval [0.42 to 0.89]). They also reported fewer instances of condomless sex over the follow-up period (adjusted rate ratio = 0.36; 95% confidence interval [0.14 to 0.90]). Among those who were sexually active, those in the ER condition reported fewer instances of vaginal or anal sex (adjusted rate ratio = 0.57; 95% confidence interval [0.32 to 0.99]).

CONCLUSIONS: An intervention used to teach ER skills for the context of health decision-making resulted in lower risk among young adolescents with suspected mental health symptoms by delaying the onset of vaginal sex as well as reducing penetrative acts without a condom. Incorporating emotion education into health education may have important health implications for this age group.

Copyright © 2018 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 0031-4005 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1542/peds.2017-2525 ID - ref1 ER -