The role of parental communication and instruction concerning sexual behaviour were studied in a community‐based sample of 1083 youth aged 13–17 (mean age of 15 years; 51% girls, 49% White). The Youth Asset Survey was administered along with items measuring demographics and youth risk behaviours. After controlling for demographic factors, multivariate analysis revealed that youth were much less likely to have initiated sexual intercourse if their parents taught them to say no, set clear rules, talked about what is right and wrong and about delaying sexual activity. If youth were sexually active, they were more likely to use birth control if taught at home about delaying sexual activity and about birth control. Having only one sexual partner was associated with having an adult role model who supports abstinence, being taught at home about birth control, and being taught at home how to say no. If parents reported talking with youth about birth control and sexually transmitted disease (STD) prevention, youth were significantly more likely to use birth control. Our conclusion is that parents have the opportunity and ability to influence their children's sexual behaviour decisions.

Our study supports the view that specific youth assets may protect youths from alcohol and drug use.

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Background: The objective of this study was to determine the impact of the Wellness Portal-a novel, web-based patient portal that focuses on wellness, prevention, and longitudinal health-on the delivery of patient-centered preventive care by examining the behavior and experiences of both patients and primary care clinicians and the degree to which recommended services were individualized and provided.Methods: We conducted a 3-year, systematic portal development and testing study, which included a 6-month feasibility and acceptability pilot in 2 primary care practices followed by a 12-month cluster randomized controlled trial in 8 clinician practices (4 in each study group). Descriptive and bivariate analyses were conducted to compare service delivery between intervention and control arms.Results: Ninety percent of patients in the pilot study found the portal easy to use, 83% found it to be a valuable resource, and 80% said that it facilitated their participation in their own care. The cluster randomized controlled trial included 422 adults 40 to 75 years of age and the parents of 116 children 2 to 5 years of age. Seventy three percent of patients used the portal during the study. Both patient activation (measured via the 13-item Patient Activation Measure) and participants' perception of patient-centeredness of care (measured via the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems instrument) increased significantly in the portal group compared with control (P ‫؍‬ .0014 and P ‫؍‬ .037, respectively). A greater proportion of portal users received all recommended preventive services (84.4% intervention vs 67.6% control; P < .0001); took low-dose aspirin, if indicated (78.6% intervention vs 52.3% control; P < .0001); and received Pneumovax because of chronic health conditions (82.5% vs 53.9%; P < .0001) and age (86.3% vs 44.6%; P < .0001), despite having fewer visits over the study period compared with those in the control group (average of 2.9 vs 4.3 visits; P < .0001). Children in the intervention group received 95.5% of all recommended immunizations compared with 87.2% in the control group (P ‫؍‬ .044).Conclusions: A comprehensive patient portal integrated into the regular process of primary care can increase the patient-centeredness of care, improve patient activation, enhance the delivery of both ageand risk factor-appropriate preventive services, and promote the utilization of web-based personal health records. (J Am Board Fam Med 2012;25:158 -167.)

Specific youth assets may have a protective effect from certain sexual risk behaviors.