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The December 2008 release of China's new "Guidelines for health education in primary and secondary schools" by the Ministry of Education addressed many of the concerns arising from the academic and popular discourse on Chinese adolescent sexuality and sexuality education. The focus of this reform, common with similar reforms elsewhere in Asia and the West, aims at promoting adolescent sexual health and countering the associated social and public health problems. However, unlike adolescents in other countries, Chinese adolescents are constructing their sexuality in a unique socio-economic context with strong influences from deeply rooted puritan Confucian norms and values. Situating adolescent sexuality construction and the new guidelines within such multiple discourses, this article examines the changes in the new guidelines, with particular attention to the distinctive Chinese characteristics of sexuality construction. Based on a large sample empirical study, the paper concurrently explores how Chinese adolescents negotiate the development of their sexuality by investigating sexuality-related attitudes, behaviours, and sources of sexuality-related information. It reveals that though the incidence of Chinese adolescents engaging in sexual behaviours is low compared to their Western counterparts, their attitudes toward sexuality are becoming increasingly liberal. It also indicates that this abstinence-based policy may be deemed justifiable according to the low incidence of sexual intercourse at the moment, but may be viewed as problematic if it has the potential to disempower adolescents from protecting themselves from other health-compromising risks. Thus, for future policy development, the authorities should consider ways they could empower adolescents to address these challenges. (Contains 4 tables.)

Sui SG, Wu MX, King ME, Zhang Y, Ling L, Xu JM, Weng XC, Duan L, Shan BC, Li LJ. Abnormal grey matter in victims of rape with PTSD in Mainland China: a voxel-based morphometry study. Objective: This study examined changes in brain grey matter in victims of rape (VoR) with and without post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Previous research has focused on PTSD caused by various traumatic events, such as war and disaster, among others. Although considerable research has focused on rape-related PTSD, limited studies have been carried out in the context of Mainland China. Methods: The study included 11 VoR with PTSD, 8 VoR without PTSD and 12 healthy comparison (HC) subjects. We used voxel-based morphometry to explore changes in brain grey-matter density (GMD) by applying statistical parametric mapping to high-resolution magnetic resonance images. Results: Compared with HC, VoR with PTSD showed significant GMD reductions in the bilateral medial frontal cortex, left middle frontal cortex, middle temporal gyrus and fusiform cortex and significant GMD increases in the right posterior cingulate cortex, postcentral cortex, bilateral precentral cortex and inferior parietal lobule. Compared to VoR without PTSD, VoR with PTSD showed significant GMD reductions in the right uncus, left middle temporal gyrus, and the fusiform cortex, and increases in the left precentral cortex, inferior parietal lobule and right post-central cortex. Conclusion: The findings of abnormal GMD in VoR with PTSD support the hypothesis that PTSD is associated with widespread anatomical changes in the brain. The medial frontal cortex, precentral cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, post-central cortex and inferior parietal lobule may play important roles in the neuropathology of PTSD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The December 2008 release of China's new Guidelines for health education in primary and secondary schools by the Ministry of Education addressed many of the concerns arising from the academic and popular discourse on Chinese adolescent sexuality and sexuality education. The focus of this reform, common with similar reforms elsewhere in Asia and the West, aims at promoting adolescent sexual health and countering the associated social and public health problems. However, unlike adolescents in other countries, Chinese adolescents are constructing their sexuality in a unique socio-economic context with strong influences from deeply rooted puritan Confucian norms and values. Situating adolescent sexuality construction and the new guidelines within such multiple discourses, this article examines the changes in the new guidelines, with particular attention to the distinctive Chinese characteristics of sexuality construction. Based on a large sample empirical study, the paper concurrently explores how Chinese adolescents negotiate the development of their sexuality by investigating sexuality-related attitudes, behaviours, and sources of sexuality-related information. It reveals that though the incidence of Chinese adolescents engaging in sexual behaviours is low compared to their Western counterparts, their attitudes toward sexuality are becoming increasingly liberal. It also indicates that this abstinence-based policy may be deemed justifiable according to the low incidence of sexual intercourse at the moment, but may be viewed as problematic if it has the potential to disempower adolescents from protecting themselves from other health-compromising risks. Thus, for future policy development, the authorities should consider ways they could empower adolescents to address these challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]