Global Utilities

La Trobe University
Health Sciences

Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society

Australian Longitudinal Study of Health and Relationships

(PDF HERE)

To all participants involved in the Australian Longitudinal Study of Health and Relationships the team at La Trobe University, the University of New South Wales, and the interviewers at the Hunter Valley Research Foundation, extend our deepest appreciation for your involvement. The first interview for the study was conducted on the 21st of February 2005 with the last interview taking place on the 21st January 2006. The following is a description of the demographic of respondents followed by a summary of particular sections of the study.

* Description of respondents

There were a total of 8,205 people recruited into the study: 4,124 females and 4,081 males (see table 1). The distribution of males and females across the ages was equal, with the majority of participants aged between 30 and 55. The average age for both female and male respondents was 42. A breakdown of marital status revealed fairly equal distributions across the categories between the females and males; except for 4% more males reporting never being married compared to females. Another interesting difference is that whilst 17% of males reported not being employed this was double for females (34%). Additionally, 71% of men compared to 33% of women reported full time employment. Geographically, the distribution of interviews for men and women in each state were equal however the distribution of interviews across states was less balanced. One-third of all interviews were by respondents living in New South Wales and one-quarter of respondents were from Victoria. Due to the sampling design, the representation of respondents from Northern Territory, Tasmania and South Australia was small. Finally, of those interviewed 79% of females and 77% of males were born in Australia. The remaining group of respondents came from a 101 different countries across the world.

Table 1: Sex of respondents by age groups, marital status and employment status

    Sex    
    Female % Male % Total (n)
Age group (%) 16-19 4 5 402
  20-24 6 7 539
  25-29 9 7 653
  30-34 12 9 859
  35-39 13 12 1,042
  40-44 13 13 1,060
  45-49 12 14 1,048
  50-54 12 12 985
  55-59 11 12 929
  60+ 8 9 672
  Total (n) 4,124 4,081 8,205
 
Marital status (%) Married 60 60 4,893
*1 persons refused Never married 24 28 2,120
  Divorced 10 9 777
  Separated (not divorced) 4 3 271
  Widowed 3 1 143
  Total (n) 4,124 4,080 8,204
 
Employment status (%) Unemployed 34 17 2,071
*6 persons refused Part-time 33 12 1,851
  Full-time 33 71 4,277
  Total 4,118 4,081 8,199
 
State New South Wales 34 32 2,669
*34 persons refused Victoria 24 25 2,010
  South Australia 8 8 636
  Western Australia 10 10 817
  Queensland 18 19 1,516
  Northern Territory 1 1 55
  Tasmania 3 3 267
  Australian Capital Territory 2 3 201
  Total (n) 4,110 4,061 8,171

 

* Description of households

Table 2: Description and size of households

  Number of people in the household (n)
Household representation 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Total
Live-in partner only 2,189 0 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2,193
Other family only 345 390 312 113 39 11 4 1 1 0 1,216
Non-family only 132 47 18 8 3 0 0 0 0 0 208
Live-in partner and other family 0 1,116 1,501 687 164 47 14 6 0 1 3,536
Live-in partner and non-family 0 42 16 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 60
Other family and non-family 0 25 18 16 5 3 1 0 0 0 68
live-in partner, other family, and non-family 0 0 20 35 14 7 3 0 0 1 80
Total (n) 2,666 1,620 1,887 862 226 68 22 7 1 2 7,361

 

* Sexual identity, attraction and experience

Table 3 (below) highlights the distribution of respondents' sexual identity, sexual attraction and previous sexual experience. The table details that approximately 98% of males and females sampled indicated that they identity as being heterosexual. The remaining 2% of respondents indicated that they were either homosexual or bisexual. Whilst, sexual identity is how a respondent defines their sexual self, the majority being heterosexual a number of the respondents did indicate that they were sexually attracted to the same sex. Approximately 90% of women and 95% of men indicated that they were exclusively attracted to the opposite sex. This suggests that almost 10% of women and 5% of men were attracted to the same sex. Similarly, as can be seen in table 3, approximately 90% of both women and men indicated only ever have sexual experiences with the opposite sex; with over 7% of women and 6% of men noting that they had had sexual experiences with people of the same sex. Approximately 1 in 40 men and women in the study indicated that they have never had any sexual experience.

Table 3: Sexual Identity, Attraction and Experience of Respondents

   
Sex
  
    Female Male Total
Sexual identity Heterosexual 98.08 97.72 8,027
  Homosexual 0.66 1.03 69
  Bisexual 1.26 1.23 102
  Queer 0 0.02 1
  Total 4,121 4,078 8,199
 
Sexual attraction Opposite sex 90.6 95.88 7,642
  Both sexes 8.89 3.31 501
  Same sex 0.22 0.64 35
  Neither sex 0.29 0.17 19
  Total 4,117 4,080 8,197
 
Sexual experience Opposite sex 89.94 91.08 7,418
  Both sexes 7.21 6.06 544
  Same sex 0.1 0.37 19
  Neither sex 2.74 2.5 215
  Total 4,117 4,079 8,196

 

* Surgeries that impact pregnancy

A number of questions relating to types of surgeries that impact whether respondents are able to parent children biologically were addressed. Of the women interviewed, roughly 20% currently have a tubal ligation, fewer than 1 in 20 women indicated a double oophorectomy (removal of the ovaries) and fewer than 1 in 5 women indicated a single oophorectomy. More than 10% of women reported having a hysterectomy. It should be noted that over a quarter of women who reported having had a hysterectomy had also reported a double oophorectomy (it is likely that the ovaries where removed at the same time). Of the men interviewed, approximately 1 in 5 had reported having a vasectomy; less than 1% reported having a prostatectomy or a bilateral orchidectomy (removal of both testes).

* Pregnancies and outcomes (females only)

In total there were 10,021 pregnancies reported from 3275 female respondents. Over 70% of all births resulted in a live birth, roughly 15% in a miscarriage and less than 10% in a termination. Of pregnancies within the last year there were a total 453 to 402 mothers. Roughly half of these resulted in live births and 25% of women were currently pregnant. Of the remaining 25% of pregnancies: roughly 1 in 7 were reported as miscarriages, and less than 1 in 10 resulted in a termination.

* Attitudes

Respondents were asked eight attitudinal statements and had to indicate whether he or she agreed or disagreed with the statements. Table 4 summarise these data. Typically, women and men tended to respond equally to most items except for statements about the explicit nature of films and sex between adult men. Men were less likely to agree than women that films are too sexually explicit and men were more likely to agree that sex between two men is always wrong. Almost 80% of both men and women disagree that terminating a pregnancy is always wrong.

Table 4: Percentage of respondents who agreed or disagreed to the attitudinal statements

    Agree Disagree Don't know Refuse
Films these days are too sexually explicit women 54.27 43 3.18 0.05
  men 35.26 63 2.13 0
 
Sex before marriage is acceptable women 86.15 12.56 1.21 0.07
  men 87.77 11.37 0.81 0.05
 
If two people had oral sex, but not intercourse, you would still consider that they had had sex together women 78.2 19 2.62 0.12
  men 77.92 20 1.84 0.12
 
Sex between two adult women is always wrong women 21.24 75 3.42 0.34
  men 22.08 76 2.08 0.17
 
Abortion is always wrong women 15.62 82.23 1.94 0.22
  men 19.19 77.9 2.7 0.22
 
Having an affair when in a committed relationship is always wrong women 79.44 18.55 1.87 0.15
  men 79.56 18.92 1.42 0.1
 
An active sex life is important for one's sense of well-being women 80.67 17.46 1.77 0.1
  men 88.61 10.44 0.88 0.07
 
Sex between two adult men is always wrong women 26.24 70.44 2.98 0.34
  men 43.4 54.59 1.84 0.17