ADOLESCENT READERS RESPONSES TO THE BOOKLET ON SEX

Purpose: To investigate the reception and the readers' reactions to a booklet about sex, which is mailed annually to all 16-year old Finnish adolescents. Methods: Eight hundred youngsters were randomly selected to the study. A questionnaire was sent to them six weeks after the ma iling of the booklet, the Sextiin. After three rounds, a response rate of 65% (N = 521) was achieved. Results: The booklet reached 97% of th e respondents, of whom 72% read all of it. The respondents' attitudes towards and reactions to the Sextiin were mainly positive. They reacte d least positively to the articles on homosexuality and masturbation. Twelve percent of the respondents indicated that they opened the condo m package that was attached to the Sextiin. Conclusions: The study sho ws that the campaign reached its target group well. As the adolescents ' reactions to the Sextiin proved to be mainly positive, a claim for f urther use of the mass media for educational purposes is justified.