Presented manuscript findings at the Southern California Sexual Health Summit, Los Angeles, CA. February 15, 2012.

1. SEX EDUCATION AMONG
ASIAN AMERICAN
COLLEGE FEMALES:
WHO IS TEACHING THEM AND
WHAT IS BEING TAUGHT
Southern California Sexual Health Summit
February 15, 2012
Los Angeles, CA
Wednesday, February 15, 2012

2. AUTHORS
Christine Lee, Denise Tran, Deanna Thoi, Melissa Chang, Lisa Wu, & Sang Leng Trieu
in the
Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health (currently in press)
Wednesday, February 15, 2012

3. WHY ASIAN AMERICANS?
Sex as taboo topic in Asian cultures
Generally prohibitive messaging
Only 0.2% of federal-health grants to Asian American
issues
Asian Americans are 5% of the US population
Asian Americans are least likely to use birth control
Nearly 4 in 10 Asian American females will have
unprotected sex in their life
Wednesday, February 15, 2012

4. METHODS
Online survey conducted through SurveyMonkey
Random sampling of 5000 full-time undergraduate
females, 18-25 years of age
Questions included topics on:
Demographics Contraceptive choice
Association with Religion Views on abortion
Sex Education Sex selection
Sexual history Reproductive Technology
Wednesday, February 15, 2012

5. DEMOGRAPHICS
Age (N=455) Ethnicity (N=455)
Vietnamese
25%
Age 21-25
Age 18-20 31% Chinese Filipina
69% 46% 18%
Korean
11%
Table I
Wednesday, February 15, 2012

6. SOURCES OF ABSTINENCE
EDUCATION BY ETHNICITY
100
Chinese Vietnamese
Filipina Korean
Percent of Respondents
75
50
25
0
Family School HCP* Social*
[*] HCP = Health Care Provider; Social = friends & media Table II
Wednesday, February 15, 2012

7. SOURCES OF BIRTH CONTROL
EDUCATION BY ETHNICITY
100
Chinese Vietnamese
Filipina Korean
Percent of Respondents
75
50
25
0
Family School HCP* Social*
[*] HCP = Health Care Provider; Social = friends & media Table II
Wednesday, February 15, 2012

8. AGE OF SEXUAL DEBUT BY
ETHNICITY
s se s
ic s as se ame an
an ite
p h ipin ne etn
i i re
is il h
C V o
H W F K
Age 16.0 16.4 16.8 17.2 17.6 18.0
Wednesday, February 15, 2012

9. AGE OF SEXUAL DEBUT BY
TOPIC & SOURCE OF EDUCATION
Age of Sexual Debut
Yes No
Abstinence
Family 17.6 17.1
School 17.2 17.9
Health Care Provider 17.4 17.4
Social 17.3 17.4
Birth Control
Family 17.9 17.3
School 17.3 17.5
Health Care Provider 17.4 17.4
Social 17.5 17.3
Table IV
Wednesday, February 15, 2012

10. RECOMMENDATIONS
Further disaggregation of data
Survey young Asian American men, encouraging
better decision-making between heterosexual couples
Promote more culturally sensitive ways of educating
Asian Americans
Encourage healthcare providers to be more proactive
with sex education
Wednesday, February 15, 2012

11. QUESTIONS FOR US?
Wednesday, February 15, 2012

12. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
How can this data be utilized by your organization?
In your line of work, have you discovered similar or
contrasting findings?
What are some other effective ways of reaching out to
underserved/understudied populations?
Wednesday, February 15, 2012

13. CONTACT US
University of California, Irvine
Department of Asian American Studies
Denise Tran Christine Lee
deniseyentran@gmail.com christine@gicus.com
858/537-7917 408/207-7816
Wednesday, February 15, 2012