Measuring sexual orientation in adolescent health surveys: Evaluation of eight school-based surveys

Saewyc, Elizabeth; Bauer, Greta R.; Skay, Carol L.; Bearinger, Linda H.; Resnick, Michael D.; Reis, Erhan; Murphy, Aileen

doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2004.06.002

Cited by 238 publications

(205 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…The 100% homosexual, mostly homosexual, and bisexual youth formed the lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) group for these analyses. The "not sure" group, about 4% of adolescents in the survey, was excluded because varying reasons for choosing that option, i.e., being unsure of attractions, or unsure what the question is asking, make it unclear what students meant (Saewyc et al, 2004); this is also the case for mostly heterosexual adolescents, which have been shown to differ from both heterosexual and LGB youth. Seventh graders were also excluded from this study because most of these students were enrolled in elementary or middle schools where GSAs and anti-homophobia policies have not been implemented anywhere in the province, and yet developmentally, alcohol or other substance use is also uncommon.…”

Section: Methods Samplementioning

confidence: 99%

Population-level evaluation of school-based interventions to prevent problem substance use among gay, lesbian and bisexual adolescents in Canada

Konishi

Saewyc

Homma

et al. 2013

Preventive Medicine

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Objective-This study examined whether students' odds of recent substance use were lower in the presence of GSAs or explicit anti-homophobia policy that had been established at their school recently, or at least three years prior.Methods-We analyzed a population-based sample of students in grades 8 through 12 from the British Columbia Adolescent Health Survey of 2008 (weighted N = 21,708). We used multinomial logistic regressions to test the hypothesized effects of GSAs and policies on substance use outcomes for LGB and 100% heterosexual students separately.Results-Results indicated that GSAs and anti-homophobic bullying policies were linked to significantly lower odds of some but not all types of recent risky alcohol use, and past-year harms from alcohol or drug use, for LGB adolescents, but these were predominantly among girls, and almost exclusively in schools where the policies or GSAs had been established for at least three years.Conclusions-Our findings suggest that these school-based strategies (GSAs and antihomophobia policies) to reduce homophobia and foster school inclusion may be beneficial in reducing problem alcohol use among all students, not just sexual minority students.

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Section: Methods Samplementioning

confidence: 99%

Population-level evaluation of school-based interventions to prevent problem substance use among gay, lesbian and bisexual adolescents in Canada

Konishi

Saewyc

Homma

et al. 2013

Preventive Medicine

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“…Sexual attraction is the main construct included in definitions of sexual orientation and it is important for young people and others who are not sexually active 5 . Authors have posited that sexual attraction is the most important construct for measuring sexual orientation 6,7 .…”

Section: Corresponding Authormentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Authors have posited that sexual attraction is the most important construct for measuring sexual orientation 6,7 . Not everyone with same-sex attraction engage in sexual activity with partners of the same sex 5,8 and vice versa. It is thus important to know if there are discrepancies in attraction and behaviour.…”

Section: Corresponding Authormentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Self-identification varies over time for most individuals and is heavily influenced by socio-cultural factors 3 . Self-identification is not always in agreement with sexual behavior or attraction 5,9 . The discordance among these three dimensions are likely due to multiple factors and these include stigma, laws and legal risks in some countries, especially in a country like Nigeria where same sex relationships are criminalized, cultural values and meanings, developmental change, partner selection opportunities and even economic considerations 3 .…”

Section: Corresponding Authormentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sexual orientation and quality of life among students of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Nigeria.

Mapayi¹,

Olakunle²,

Aloba³

et al. 2016

Afr H. Sci.

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Background: Sexual orientation is an individual's pattern of physical and emotional arousal toward members of the same and/or opposite gender. Objective: To determine the pattern of sexual orientation and the relationship between sexual orientation and quality of life among a sample of OAU students. Methods: A descriptive cross sectional study among 481 students of OAU using a multistage sampling technique. They completed a Socio-demographic data schedule, questions on sexual orientation and the World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale -Brief version (WHO QOL-BREF). Results: 4.9% of the sample self-identified as bisexual while 0.1% self-identified as gay/lesbian. 11.8% of the respondents reported varying degrees of attraction to the opposite gender. The mean age of sexual debut was 17.62 (±4.05). Those who self-identified as gay/lesbian/bisexual had a lower average score on all domains of the WHO QOL-BREF. Conclusion: Same sex sexual attraction and practice occur among young people in Nigeria and this has sexual and reproductive health implications. GLB youth report a lower QOL compared to heterosexual counterparts and this may suggest some distress among this vulnerable group. More studies should be undertaken to explore issues raised in planning interventions and health services that would improve safe sexual practices within this group.

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“…Two females reported having had a female sexual partner in the last 12 months. However, self identification as GLB was used for analyses as it has been considered a more reliable assessment of sexual orientation (Saewyc et al, 2004). …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of HIV Risks among Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Heterosexual Homeless Youth

Gangamma

Slesnick

Toviessi

et al. 2007

J Youth Adolescence

120

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Youth who are homeless and gay, lesbian or bisexual (GLB) are one of the most disenfranchised and marginalized groups in our society. The purpose of this study is to examine and compare HIV in GLB homeless youth with their heterosexual counterparts. Participants for this study included 268 youth involved in treatment outcome studies with substance abusing homeless youth. Results suggest that GLB youth have greater HIV risks and that these risks are greater among bisexual females. In examining the predictors of sexual health risks, survival sex emerged as the most significant. Survival sex was high among females regardless of their sexual orientation and also among gay males. Implications of these findings suggest that a greater emphasis needs to be paid to preventive interventions among this population. KeywordsYouth; Gay; HIV; Homeless One particularly disturbing consequence of being homeless is engaging in behaviors that put oneself at risk for HIV infection. Overall, the homeless population has a disproportionately higher risk of HIV transmission (Ebner and Laviage, 2003) and substance use (Kipke et al., 1997). Substance abuse has been associated as a risk factor for HIV, both in terms of drug and sexual related risk (Rotheram-Borus et al., 2003). In a recent study designed to explore the differences in sexual health risks and protective factors Rew et al. (2005) found that gay and lesbian homeless youth reported being tested and treated for HIV more than the bisexual or heterosexual youth. This was partially supported by a later study (Solorio et al., 2006) that found that gay and bisexual males were more likely to report being tested for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) when compared to heterosexual males and lesbian and bisexual females. While this could imply that gay and lesbian homeless youth are at a greater risk for STIs, there is currently little empirical evidence to show whether differences in HIV risks among heterosexual and gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) youth exist. Such evidence would be helpful in better understanding the needs of these youth and also to better inform intervention strategies. Thus, the purpose of this study was to bridge this gap by comparing the HIV risks among heterosexual and GLB youth in a population of homeless youth.Historically, studies comparing GLB and heterosexual non-homeless youth have been primarily conducted with school-based and community-based samples (Bontempo and D'Augelli, 2002;Faulkner and Cranston, 1998;Lock and Steiner, 1999). Findings suggest that GLB youth have greater rates of depression, more suicide attempts (Fergusson et al., 1999), more risk taking behavior (Garofalo et al., 1998) (Cochran et al., 2002;Noell and Ochs, 2001;Whitbeck et al., 2004). Gender differences have also been noted by some researchers. For instance, Whitbeck and colleagues (2004) in a longitudinal study of homeless and runaway adolescents found that gay males were more likely to have symptoms of internalization when compared to heterosexual males. Lesbian adole...

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Measuring sexual orientation in adolescent health surveys: Evaluation of eight school-based surveys

Cited by 238 publications

References 36 publications

Population-level evaluation of school-based interventions to prevent problem substance use among gay, lesbian and bisexual adolescents in Canada

Population-level evaluation of school-based interventions to prevent problem substance use among gay, lesbian and bisexual adolescents in Canada

Sexual orientation and quality of life among students of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Nigeria.

Comparison of HIV Risks among Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Heterosexual Homeless Youth

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