A profile of young adolescents attending a teen family planning clinic.

The purpose of this study was to assess the client records of adolescents attending a teen family planning clinic to determine the reported episodes of sexually transmitted diseases, sexual abuse, alcohol and drug use, and other dysfunctional situations in the family. In addition, information about the initiation of sexual activity and sexual partners was assessed in the record review. Data were obtained from a county health department located in a metropolitan area of a southeastern state. A review of the records of 183 adolescents 15 years of age or younger provided information on ethnicity, grade in school, and assessment data from the clinic interviews and exams. Twenty-five clients said they were not sexually active when they came to the family planning clinic for the first time, and were brought to the clinic by a parent (usually the mother). Those clients who came without parents said they were sexually active. Forty-one percent had their first sexual experience between 12 and 13 years of age, 18% between the ages of 14 and 15, and the remainder before the age of 12. While over 7% specifically stated that they had been sexually abused or raped, an additional 19% described situations in the home or exhibited symptoms associated with a history of sexual abuse. Eleven percent had a history of two to three different sexually transmitted diseases, and 26% had three or more diseases. Seventy-two percent indicated that there was conflict in the home; several had left home because of abuse. Fourteen percent admitted using drugs, mostly cocaine or marijuana, and 17% reported that they used alcohol at least occasionally.