Racial differences in rural adults' attitudes toward issues of adolescent sexuality

This study, based on a random sample of adults in a rural North Carolina county, demonstrates racial differences in rural adults' attitudes relating to adolescent sexual issues. Blacks were 50% more likely than Whites to indicate that public schools should provide general health care services, including pregnancy testing and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases, to teenagers; however, they were only half as likely as Whites to approve of sexual experimentation by adolescents. The local community's attitudes must be considered in the implementation of rural adolescent health programs, including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome education.