Currently accepted at: JMIR Research Protocols
Date Submitted: Sep 29, 2025
Date Accepted: Aug 18, 2026
This paper has been accepted and is currently in production.
It will appear shortly on 10.2196/85041
The final accepted version (not copyedited yet) is in this tab.
Interdisciplinary Sexual Health Education Programs for K-12 Students in the United States: Protocol for a Scoping Review
ABSTRACT
Background:
Sexual health education is a critical aspect of adolescent development, equipping students with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to make informed decisions about their well-being. Despite its importance, sexual health education in the United States remains inconsistent, with only a minority of states mandating comprehensive, inclusive, and evidence-based curricula. Addressing these disparities, this study evaluates the current landscape of interdisciplinary collaboration and delivery of sexual health education programs for K-12 students.
Objective:
By examining existing research and program outcomes, this scoping review aim to provide actionable recommendations for educators and policymakers to foster equitable, holistic, and effective sexual health education.
Methods:
Studies considered for inclusion are those focused on children and adolescent sexual health programs with interdisciplinary collaboration (including medicine, social work, psychology, nursing, dental). Studies will be limited to those published in English within the United States from inception to November 2024. Five electronic databases, namely PubMed, EMBASE, ERIC, APAPsycInfo, and CINAHL will be searched for published reports. Two reviewers will independently screen titles and abstracts. The reviewers will then assess the full texts selected. In both cases, disagreements will be discussed with a third reviewer and consensus will be achieved. Data analysis will be descriptive with a narrative summary.
Results:
As this study does not have the direct involvement of human participants, an institutional ethical review will not be warranted.
Conclusions:
As this study does not have the direct involvement of human participants, an institutional ethical review will not be warranted. Clinical Trial: This protocol is registered on the Open Science Framework Repository (https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/U894B)
Citation
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Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.