Effects of Online Comprehensive Sexual Health Education for LGBT Youth
The curriculum addresses sexual development and self-acceptance, sexual pleasure, HIV and STIs, healthy relationships, and condoms/birth control using multiple modalities (e.g. videos, games, animation). LGBT youth between the ages of 16–20 who were currently in a same-sex relationship were recruited online through Facebook targeted advertisements and through LGBT youth organizations. A variety of methods were used to assure participants met eligibility criteria and only participated once. After screening eligibility, participants completed measures of sexual health knowledge, motivations, and behavioral skills. They then completed the online QSE curriculum. Two weeks after finishing the curriculum they completed a series of post-intervention measures to assess change resulting from program participation.
Results and Conclusions: 202 LGBT youth completed the intervention, which had a mean completion time of 106 minutes. The sample was 20% under age 18, 53% male; 25% racial/ethnic minorities, and 18% lived in rural areas. Pre-post changes in sexual health knowledge, motivations, and skills will be reported during the talk. Results suggest that online sexual health education is a promising approach for impacting disparities experienced by LGBT youth.
