Saving Sex for Later en Español

Pregnancy rates among teens in the United States have declined over the past decade. Yet they continue to remain higher among Latinas than any other ethnic group. Over 50% of Latinas—twice the national average—get pregnant before they turn 20, and Latino communities continue to bear a disproportionate burden of HIV/AIDS as well as other sexually transmitted infections.

To address the critical need for Spanish prevention programs, HHD is adapting its successful parent education intervention, Saving Sex for Later, into Spanish. Developed with extensive input from parents and youth, it consists of three audio CDs and a print brochure, that provide tips for parents about how to support their young teens through the challenges of puberty.

The CDs introduce listeners to fictional families who model parenting strategies such as ways to start conversations about sexuality and how to monitor the activities of their children. The focus is on early sexual initiation since this behavior increases the likelihood of exposure to HIV/AIDS as well as early childbearing and parenting, which in turn increases the likelihood that mothers and their children will live in poverty. Through the CDs parents learn how to more effectively help their sons and daughters navigate the normal changes in puberty and remain abstinent during the critical early adolescent years.

“It made it much easier and [more] comfortable to talk with my son about sex and its consequences,” comments a parent from Brooklyn, New York who used the CD program. “Now, I can truly say my son has a better outlook and understanding, and knows the importance of saving sex for later and the responsibilities that come with having sex.”

An evaluation of the program found that the communication between parents and their children about puberty, romantic relationships, and sexual activity improved when parents used the Saving Sex for Later CDs. As a result, the youth reported greater family support, the benefit of family rules, and fewer sexual risk behaviors.

The Spanish version, El sexo puede esperar, aims to engage Latino parents in similar conversations with their children. Yet adapting the program for Latino families is not simply translating the English version into Spanish.

“We need to make it culturally relevant too,” says Alexi San Doval, the project director in HHD’s Center for Research on High Risk Behaviors. “This requires directly involving the Latino community and agency partners in the process to get their input.”

HHD worked with community advisors and focus groups of Latino youth and parents to determine how to make the role model stories culturally and linguistically appropriate for diverse Spanish-speaking communities. New stories have been developed, and others have been adapted to reflect how Latino parents and youth interact and communicate about issues related to puberty and sexuality.

In January, the actor Tony Plana—who plays the father on the television show, Ugly Betty—narrated the stories. Over the next year HHD will pilot test El sexo puede esperar with Latino families in Connecticut and California.