Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality最新文献

Despite the large number of adolescents of East Asian origin in Canada, there is limited research on sexual health among this population. A first step to develop strategies for sexual health promotion for adolescents is to document the prevalence of sexual behaviours. This study thus estimated the prevalence of sexual health and risk behaviours among East Asian adolescents in grades 7 to 12, using the province-wide, school-based 2008 British Columbia Adolescent Health Survey (unweighted N = 4,311). Less than 10% of East Asian adolescents have ever had sexual intercourse. However, most of these sexually active adolescents have engaged in risky sexual behaviours, including multiple sexual partners and non-condom use at last intercourse. In particular, nearly half of sexually active girls reported not using a condom at last intercourse. Compared to immigrant students whose primary language at home was not English, immigrant and Canadian-born students speaking English at home were more likely to experience sexual intercourse. Among students who have never had sexual intercourse, two most common reasons for sexual abstinence were not feeling ready and waiting to meet the right person. Findings suggest the need for sexual health interventions tailored to gender and sociocultural contexts in which adolescents live.

Purpose: Research on sexual-partner type focuses mostly on "main" and "casual" partner categories. The literature indicates that adolescent girls are less likely to use condoms with main partners, and more likely to use condoms with casual partners. Adolescent mothers may have different types of sexual partners than other adolescent girls. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the range of male sexual partner types reported by Black adolescent mothers.

Design and sample: This study was a qualitative description of the perspectives of Black, predominantly African-American, mothers (n=31). Data were generated using focus groups and interviews. The participants' ages ranged from 15-19 years.

Measures: A semi-structured qualitative questioning guide was used to stimulate focused discussions. Transcribed data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis.

Results: The range of sexual partner types of the women were reflected in three themes (1) All main partners are not created equal; (2) They're not casual partners because there are strings attached; (3) "Wham, bam, thank you ma'am:" No strings attached. Nine partner types were identified under these three themes, including a "baby daddy" partner.

Conclusion: The partner-types of Black adolescent mothers are more robust than the "main" and "casual" partner categories typically referenced in the research literature. The range of sex partners includes the birth fathers of their children. Clinicians and researchers must consider how co-parenthood status is used in the construction of the "baby daddy" partner and what implications this unique sexual partner type may have on risk reduction behaviors such as condom use.

This study evaluated the implications of the 2008 increase in age for sexual consent in Canada using a population health survey of Canadian adolescents. Government rationales for the increase asserted younger adolescents were more likely to experience sexual exploitation and engage in risky sexual behaviour than adolescents 16 and older. Using data from sexually experienced adolescents in the 2008 British Columbia Adolescent Health Survey (BC AHS, N=6,262; age range 12 - 19; 52% female), analyses documented the scope of first intercourse partners who were not within the 'close in age' exemptions, then compared sexual behaviours of younger teens (14 and 15 years) with older teens (16 and 17) navigating their first year of sexual activity. Comparisons included: forced sex, sex under the influence of alcohol or drugs, multiple partners, condom use, effective contraception use, self-reported sexually transmitted infections, and pregnancy involvement. Results showed very few 14- and 15-year-olds had first intercourse partners who were not within the 'close in age' exemptions based on age (boys: <2%, girls: 3-5%). In contrast, among 12- and 13-year-olds (a group unaffected by the law's change) between 25% and 50% had first intercourse partners who were not within the 'close in age' exemptions, and almost 40% of teens who first had sex before age 12 reported a first partner age 20 years or more. In their first year of intercourse, 14- and 15-year-olds were slightly more likely to report forced sex and 3 or more partners than older teens, but otherwise made similarly healthy decisions. This study demonstrates the feasibility of evaluating policy using population health data and shows that better strategies are needed to protect children 13 and under from sexual abuse.

Over the past decade, several large-scale school-based studies of adolescents in Canada and the U.S. have documented health disparities for lesbian, gay and bisexual teens compared to their heterosexual peers, such as higher rates of suicide attempts, homelessness, and substance use. Many of these disparities have been linked to "enacted stigma," or the higher rates of harassment, discrimination, and sexual or physical violence that sexual minority youth experience at home, at school, and in the community. An unexpected health disparity for lesbia n, gay and bisexual youth is their significantly higher risk of teen pregnancy involvement (between two and seven times the rate of their heterosexual peers), especially in light of declining trends in teen pregnancy across North America since the early 1990s. What is behind this higher risk? Is it getting better or worse? Using the province-wide cluster-stratified British Columbia Adolescent Health Surveys from 1992, 1998, and 2003, this paper explores the trends in pregnancy involvement, related sexual behaviours, and exposure to forms of enacted stigma that may help explain this particular health disparity for gay, lesbian and bisexual youth in Canada.

Regular monitoring of trends in sexual health and sexual behaviours among adolescents provides strong evidence to guide intervention programs and health policies. Using the province-wide, school-based British Columbia (BC) Adolescent Health Surveys of 1992, 1998, and 2003, this study documented the trends in sexual health and risk behaviours among adolescents in grades 7 to 12 in BC, and explored the associations between sexual behaviours and key risk and protective factors. From 1992 to 2003, the percentage of youth who had ever had sexual intercourse decreased for both males (33.9% to 23.3%) and females (28.6% to 24.3%) and the percentage who used a condom at last intercourse increased for both males (64.4% to 74.9%) and females (52.9% to 64.2%). Among students who had ever had sexual intercourse, the percentage who had first intercourse before age 14 decreased for both sexes. These encouraging results may be related in part to concurrent decreases in the prevalence of sexual abuse or forced intercourse among both male and female adolescents. Protective factors such as feeling connected to family or school were also associated with lower odds of having engaged in risky sexual behaviours. These findings emphasize the importance of including questions about adolescent sexual health behaviours, risk exposures, and protective factors on national and provincial youth health surveys, to monitor trends, inform sexual health promotion strategies and policies, and to document the effectiveness of population-level interventions to foster sexual health among Canadian adolescents.