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At ARCSHS, a range of projects is carried out that focus on the sexuality, sexual health and wellbeing of young people. Research primarily focuses on young Australians from 14–25 years, including a focus on Indigenous Australians, with particular emphasis on identifying and exploring the challenges to young people’s wellbeing. One challenge facing same-sex attracted and gender-questioning young people concerns the incidence of, and damage wrought by, homophobia and transphobia. Another challenge concerns the barriers young people face in ensuring that their sexual encounters are safe and protected. As well as centring on young people, some projects also focus on schools and communities, such as identifying barriers and challenges teachers face in providing adequate sexuality education and defining and evaluating strategies for communities and organisations to provide education that teaches young people how to take care of themselves with regard to their psychological wellbeing and sexual health.

Writing Themselves In 3: The Third National Study on the Sexual Health and Wellbeing of Same Sex Attracted and Gender Questioning Young People

Lynne Hillier, Tiffany Jones, Marisa Monagle, Naomi Overton, Luke Gahan and Anne Mitchell

This study, part of a VicHealth Public Health Fellowship, is the third national study on the sexual health and wellbeing of same-sex attracted and gender-questioning young people. The first was in 1998 and the second was in 2004. In this 2010 study, 3134 young people aged 14-21 took part in an online qualitative and quantitative survey about their sexual attractions, identity and behaviours, experiences of homophobic abuse, experiences of disclosure and support and their experiences of school. The data showed that homophobic abuse continued to rise and that 80% of those abused were abused at school. Significant links between abuse, self-harm, suicide attempts, drug use and feeling unsafe were identified. Despite this, young people felt better about their sexuality than in 1998 and 2004 and were more likely to disclose and receive support. Sexuality education in most cases failed to be inclusive with most young people finding it useless. It may not be surprising, therefore, that these young people had higher rates of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. There was evidence that support can be a buffer against the negative impacts of homophobia with young people who received support being less likely to self-harm or attempt suicide. Moreover, schools with protective policies against homophobic abuse and those which young people deemed supportive rather than homophobic had lower rates of self-harm and suicide and young people who attended them felt safer. This research will be used to inform policy in education and other government sectors. The report was launched on November 19th 2010. In 2011, the research findings were presented in NSW, ACT, WA, Victoria and SA. Dissemination will continue in Tasmania and Queensland in 2012.

POSH Interviews: Peers Outsmarting Homophobia

Lynne Hillier

VicHealth Public Health Research Fellowship (2006-2011).

This longitudinal study gathered the experiences of 25 same-sex attracted young people at six-monthly intervals to see how they managed the many critical events that happen in their lives. Of interest to the study were the discourses young people drew on and the resources they used in the production of themselves as same-sex attracted. This is important because the research demonstrates that when young people feel bad about their same-sex attractions they are more likely to self-harm and attempt suicide than those who feel good. Moreover, how young people feel about their sexuality is related to the discourses they use to explain their feelings. In Foucauldian terms, the use of reflection, care of self and others, mentoring and support were all of interest to the study. Over the period of the project, young people were exposed to a range of experiences including homophobic abuse and discrimination, school problems, family problems and mental health challenges such as drug abuse, self-harm and suicide attempts.

Young people produced themselves in many ways over the course of the study. In almost all of them there was evidence of growing sophistication in how they managed meanings that were thrust upon them, how they resisted, how they garnered support and, for many of them, how they triumphed and transcended. Of importance also was the tendency for many of them to become involved in activism to make the world a better place for young people in the future. During 2011 a number of conference presentations focussed on findings and peer reviewed papers are in progress.

The Use of the Internet by LGB and non-LGB Young People

Lynne Hillier and Michelle Y’Barra (Internet Solutions for Kids)

This study was funded by the National Institute for Health in the United States of America. ARCSHS’ primary involvement was in the development of the qualitative components of the two-phase project. The first phase is an online discussion board with three groups of young people in the USA. The first two groups were lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB), and the third group was heterosexual (non-LGB). There were approximately 20 young people in each LGB group and 30 in the non-LGB group. Each of the three discussion boards were held separately and lasted for a week. Young people were asked questions about their internet use and its history, and what they used the internet for, including sex and relationships, online friendships, threats they had experienced and how they dealt with them, meeting people offline, activism and the use of the internet to explore sexuality. Online discussion boards have been completed with differences between the LGB and non-LGB groups concerning internet friendships, sexual exploration, fear and activism. LGB young people were more likely to meet new people on the internet, meet people offline from the internet and to be involved in internet activism. LGB young people were also more sophisticated in their internet use and less fearful of the medium. These findings have been used to inform the second phase of the study which involves a large-scale survey of young people in the USA about their internet use. In 2011 the survey phase was completed and data analysis and writing are ongoing. One peer reviewed paper had been accepted for publication from the online discussion data.

Looking Beyond the Risk Factors: Socio-Cultural Influences on the Sexual Health of Indigenous Youth

Kate Senior (Menzies School of Health Research), Victoria Burbank (University of Western Australia), Richard Chenhall (University of Melbourne), Tricia Nagel (Menzies School of Health Research), Marian Pitts and Sherry Saggers (National Drug Research Institute)

Indigenous youth have been the target of many interventions to address poor sexual health, but there has been little evidence for improvement. It is clear that a different approach is needed, and that this should be built on a detailed understanding of the lives of young Indigenous people, and with significant input from young people. This project will involve young people at all levels, and will include their explanations of sexuality and relationships through to their recommendations for more appropriate resources and services. The outcomes will be sexual health services which have an evidence base from which to develop their interventions and more appropriate resources to engage with young people about their sexuality.

The Male Body Beautiful: Young Men, Masculinity, Health and Body Image in Contemporary Australia

Duane Duncan

This project is funded by a La Trobe University, Faculty of Health Sciences Faculty Research Grant for Early Career Researchers, and began in early 2011. The aims of the project are to use a qualitative methodology to explore the body image pressures faced by young Australian men aged 18-28, and the related 'body projects' they engage in. Recent research has indicated that body image is a significant concern for young Australian men with increasing evidence of engagement in unhealthy body-image practices leading to injury, poor self-esteem, anxiety and depression, and eating disorders. This projects seeks to contextualise these issues within the wider significance placed on men's bodies and individual identity in 'late' modernity. In exploring the bodily practices young men engage in, their motivations for engaging in those practices, and their understandings of their meanings of those practices in regard to contemporary notions of masculinity, the project hopes to provide insight into an emerging area of men's health. The expected outcomes include a Discovery Early Career Research Award application to the ARC in 2012. This project is due to be completed in mid-2012.

Sexual Health and Relationships in Young Indigenous People

James Ward (Kirby Institute), Heather Worth (University of New South Wales), Anthony Smith, Dea Thiele (NACCHO), John Kaldor (Kirby Institute), Joanne Bryant (NCHSR) and Marian Pitts

This study was funded by an ARC Council linkage grant to conduct the first Australian study describing levels of knowledge, risk practice and health service access of young indigenous people in relation to sexually transmissible infections and blood-borne viruses. It will determine behavioural, demographic, access and socio-cultural predictors of STIs and BBV acquisition. It will establish the foundation for a repeatable study to assess changes over time in these areas. Information will be collected, using innovative technology, from attendees at Indigenous community events. The study includes research capacity and partnership initiatives with Indigenous communities. It will provide compelling evidence to shape policy and programs in this area.

The Sexual Network Structure of Young Adults in Australia: Understanding Risk and How this relates to Sexual Health

Anthony Smith and Marisa Schlichthorst

National and international research has documented that social network characteristics contribute to epidemic dynamics and to the likely success of initiatives in the area of both prevention and health service utilisation. So there is a clear need for a formal network study among young people in Australia. A better understanding of young people’s networks will help to lower the still high number of new infections in STIs within this group. This study aims to define the structure and composition of peer networks among young Australians in terms of size, gender, age and geographical mix.

Childhood Determinants of Risky Sexual Behaviour in Adolescence: A Prospective Cohort Study

Rachel Skinner (University of Sydney), Martha Hickey (University of Melbourne), Eugen Mattes (University of Western Australia), Dorota Doherty (University of Western Australia), Anthony Smith, Susan Rosenthal (Columbia University, NY) and Spring Chenoa Cooper Robbins (University of Sydney)

The Western Australian Pregnancy (Raine) Cohort Study is a unique longitudinal birth cohort of just under 3000 subjects recruited in the antenatal period and followed up at two- to three-yearly intervals. By September 2009, data collection up to 17 years of age was complete. Extensive biological, psychological, psychosocial, family, individual and environmental characteristics have been collected at all ages. The resultant data drew on a biopsychosocial and developmental life course model of health behaviour, which encompasses health factors at the individual, family, school, and neighbourhood level over the lifespan. This cohort study will use this unique dataset to undertake a world-first analysis of causal pathways through early life to sexual risk-taking in adolescence.

Victorian Same-sex Attracted and Sex and Gender Diverse (SSASGD) Youth Suicide Prevention

William Leonard

The Victorian same-sex attracted and sex and gender diverse (SSASGD) youth suicide prevention project is an initiative funded by the Department of Health Victoria (DH) aimed at reducing self-harm and suicide among SSASGD youth and improving their mental health. The project will be funded for four years, commencing in 2011, at a total cost of $4 million.

The project involves funding of seven separate agencies and programs with proven expertise and success in working with, and on behalf of, SSASGD young Victorians. The project aims to increase the capacity of each of these organisations to address a particular area of need among SSASGD youth. It also aims to encourage these agencies to work in partnership with each other, and with mainstream youth, and youth mental health, services, to build an SSASGD youth platform within the mainstream youth sector. Gay and Lesbian Health Victoria in partnership with the Youth Affairs Council of Victoria will be responsible for project management and coordination.

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