Hispanic and black American adolescents' beliefs relating to sexuality and contraception

Popular beliefs and level of scientific knowledge regarding sexuality and contraception were elicited from black and Hispanic adolescents in a major US inner-city area of Miami Florida. Significant differences were found between the 2 groups. Hispanic males were the most knowledgeable Hispanic females the least and black males and females were intermediate. A cultural basis for the dramatic difference between Hispanic male and female scores lies in the Latin American belief that the woman should remain sexually naive (embodied in the Spanish words verguenza marianismo and decente) and that the male role is one of sexual virility courage honor and a provider for his family (machismo). In addition the data depicted 2 conflicting beliefs that were held simultaneously by many of the adolescents: Contraception is "good" because it prevents pregnancy and it is "bad" because the various birth control methods carry serious health hazards for users. Data indicated that there was a very low level of scientific knowledge even among those who were pregnant and/or had had a sex education course in school. Data from this and other studies indicate that sexuality and contraceptive education sessions may be made more effective by pretesting participants to determine their general level of knowledge as well as their misconceptions and by using this information to tailor the content of the sessions to the specific needs of the groups. Differences in gender and ethnic group must also be considered in planning educational activities. (authors modified).