Sexual health promotion in adolescents and young adults: primary prevention strategies.

Planners of sexual health promotion interventions for adolescents and young adults confront many challenges. Multiple factors are associated with high-risk sexual behavior, and its amelioration is complex. Sexual health promotion involves more than just targeted, short-term disease prevention efforts. Primary prevention programs must be well designed, long term, and research based. The article presents suggestions for primary prevention activities in light of current social cognitive theories and research-delineated risk factors.