Research Symposium

BIO

Sheryl Daniel is a first-year student at Florida State University majoring in psychology with a minor in linguistics. After undergraduate studies, she intends to pursue graduate-level education in psychology, possibly with a focus in neuroscience. She has been working as a research assistant under the mentorship of Dr. Laura Widman, working to incorporate youth voice into Let's Talk, a digital platform for family-based sexual education that aims to increase parent-adolescent communication about sexual health topics.

Q&A Library Expansion of Let’s Talk: A Digital Platform for Family-Based Sexual Education

Abstract

Adolescence is a critical developmental period for shaping long-term sexual health and relationship outcomes. Access to comprehensive, developmentally appropriate sex education during this time is associated with lower rates of unintended pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and HIV. Although many parents express a desire to educate their children about relationships and sexual health, they often report feeling uncomfortable or unprepared to initiate these conversations.
Let’s Talk is a digital family communication program designed to address the need for improved family-based sex education. The program is structured as a two-user platform for parents and adolescents ages 10–13, a developmental stage when many youth begin puberty and become increasingly curious about relationships and sexuality. Let’s Talk is organized as a self-paced pathway in which families move through interactive “stepping stones” that cover a range of age-appropriate topics. A feature of this program is the Q&A Library, which provides evidence-based answers to specific questions that adolescents may have, especially ones that they may feel embarrassed to ask, or need extra clarification.
As a member of the Youth Advisory Board, I contribute to ensuring that youth perspectives are centered in the program’s current development. Current work focuses on expanding the Q&A Library to enhance engagement and inclusivity. This includes reviewing existing materials and developing evidence-based responses that prioritize clarity and inclusivity when answering questions related to puberty, relationships, identity, and more.

Keywords: sexual health, family health, adolescent health, teenager, digital health, sexual education