A Case Study of iwannaknow.org

Introduction

In the United States, two of every three sexually transmitted disease (STD) infections occur among people under 24 years of age, and many youth become sexually active without accurate information about reproductive health. More than half of adolescents have sexual intercourse by age 17, but only one-fourth of youth have discussed STDs with a health care provider. The Internet has abundant sexually explicit material but little content about the potential consequences of unprotected sex, such as pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases. Sexual health Web sites can give teenagers the opportunity to obtain life-saving STD prevention information and negotiation skills. Web sites can educate teens about how to protect themselves and others; build communication; enhance self-efficacy and empowerment; and provide a forum for discussing sociocultural pressures on teen sexuality. Unfortunately, relatively little is known about how to use the Internet to promote healthy sexual beliefs and skills among adolescent ASHA was funded by the William T. Grant Foundation in 2000 to conduct this two-year, multi-phased research project on our teen Web site.

Objectives

Through this research study, ASHA intended to:

1. Provide a comprehensive assessment of why, when and how adolescents turn to the Internet for sexual information on STD prevention;
2. Understand how adolescents search, navigate, read and interact with targeted sexual health information on the Internet, with specific reference to STD prevention information;
3. Examine how sexual knowledge, attitudes, and behavioral intentions of a national sample of teenagers are affected by exposure to the ASHA teen Web site; and
4. Develop a Web site evaluation strategy to be used with sexual health Web sites targeted at teenagers.

Activities

• Conducted a content analysis of the ASHA teen Web site to determine the outcomes that could reasonably be expected to occur, as a result of user interaction with the site; and to determine what questions teenagers were asking.
• Conducted a usability study (using direct observation and self-reports) with a sample of 13 to 17-year-olds (n=14) to study navigational tactics, search strategies, and page selections on the Web.
• Surveyed visitors to the teen site: www.iwannaknow.org to assess why they came to the Internet to find sexual health information, and how they arrived at the site, and their level of STD risk. The online survey was informed by data collected in the content analyses and the usability study.

Outcomes

The findings have been disseminated through reports, presentations, and manuscript submissions. Data from this research initiative were published in the Journal of Adolescent Health in September 2005, "Evaluating a Teen STD Prevention Web Site."

Contact Information

This project is completed. If you would like to let us know how this research or any of the associated resources have been used in your work, please contact us at info@ashastd.org.

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