title: Determinants of sexual abstinence and condom use among Central American adolescents.
abstract: Engaging in sexual intercourse early in life and without protection often leads to unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases in teens.
  
  
  METHODS
  A binary logistical regression analysis was used to identify the risk and protective factors associated with two preventive health behaviors: sexual abstinence and consistent condom use among 6,902 Central American teens receiving web-based adolescent health promotion education from 2004 to 2008.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The average age was 15 years, with ages ranging between 10 and 20 years. Of these, 52% were girls and 48% boys. Personal competencies, social peer influences, and family factors were found to influence their sexual behavior patterns and were generally consistent with other studies worldwide.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Information technology provides new avenues to assess individual health and provide individualized data collection in a confidential, sensitive, accessible, and engaging manner. Health promotion interventions must continue to address the development of personal knowledge, skills, and motivations to prevent and or reduce sexual risk-taking behaviors.
authors.affiliation: TeenSmart International, San José, Costa Rica.
authors.forename: Leonor
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gutierrez Fernandez
authors.forename: Rosa M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Solórzano
authors.forename: Marco F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Valverde
authors.forename: Vilma R
authors.initials: VR
authors.lastname: Medrano
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gomez
authors.forename: Andrés S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: López
authors.forename: Mariana
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Harnecker
authors.forename: Joice
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Corrales
authors.forename: Cathy Strachan
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Lindenberg
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D017280:Condoms / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003268:Contraception Behavior; D003364:Costa Rica; D005260:Female; D006166:Guatemala; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009527:Nicaragua; D021841:Safe Sex; D012746:Sexual Abstinence; D055815:Young Adult