The Question Box Revisited: A Developmentally-Based Training Model

Abstract

AbstractThirty sex-related questions submitted anonymously by a group of forty middle adolescent girls in a private school setting are analyzed and categorized according to a classification scheme devised to reflect common developmental themes of adolescence. Once classified appropriately, questions can be responded to not simply on a factual level, but in many ways that focus on the developmental context of the questions as well. A classification scheme also has important implications for teacher and parent training. Presented with a categorization of questions they may expect to receive, adults can more easily sort out their intellectual and affective responses to typical adolescent concerns. They also can more quickly develop confidence in their ability to handle questions, by developing classifying skills and by learning and practicing effective ways to deal with questions that fit into specific categories.