Growing up in Scotland: father-child relationships and child socio-emotional wellbeing

No abstract available

Mental health, potential minority stressors and resilience: evidence from a crosssectional survey of gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men within the Celtic nations

Background: Gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) are at a greater risk of mental health problems, such as anxiety and depression, than heterosexual adults. Numerous factors and stressors have been reported to impact men’s mental health, although it has been suggested that resilience could have a protective effect. The aim of this study is to explore mental health, minority stressors, and resilience among a large online cross-sectional survey of GBMSM in the Celtic nations. Methods: Data for this cross-sectional study were collected from the Social Media, GBMSM and Sexual and Holistic Health (SMMASH2) self-report online survey. Participants (n = 3077) were recruited via gay sociosexual media in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland. Binary logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify factors that increased the odds of moderate-to-severe anxiety and depression. Potentially relevant variables (p < 0.05) were carried forward in hierarchal logistic regression analyses. Results: The prevalence of moderate-to-severe anxiety and depression was 19.9 and 14.4%, respectively. Having a disability (OR = 1.73) and having financial worries sometimes/all of the time (OR = 1.93) increased the odds of having moderate-to-severe depression and anxiety, respectively. No minority stressors were associated with depression, whereas experiencing any form of relationship abuse in the last 12 months significantly increased the odds of anxiety (OR = 1.50). Resilience, namely a sense of coherence, had a protective effect and significantly reduced the odds of moderate-to-severe depression (OR = 0.85) and anxiety (OR = 0.89). Conclusions: Disability and financial worries were associated with increased depression and anxiety, respectively, while resilience had a protective effect for GBMSM in the SMMASH2 study. Future research is needed to better understand the role of resilience and the challenges and stresses of everyday life and intersecting health problems. Future research is also needed that incorporates the perspectives of those most affected by mental ill-health to co-develop effective solutions that respond to their contextual surroundings

Mass media and communication interventions to increase HIV testing among gay and other men who have sex with Men:Social marketing and visual design component analysis

Mass media and communication interventions can play a role in increasing HIV testing among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM). Despite the key role of social marketing principles and visual design within intervention development of this type, evidence is limited regarding interventions’ social marketing mix or visual design. As part of a systematic review, intervention content was assessed using social marketing theory and social semiotics. Data were extracted on the nature of the intervention, mode of delivery, use of imagery, content and tone and the eight key characteristics of social marketing. Data were synthesised narratively. Across the 19 included studies, reference to social marketing principles was often superficial. Common design features were identified across the interventions, regardless of effectiveness, including: the use of actors inferred to be GBMSM; use of ‘naked’ and sexually explicit imagery; and the use of text framed as statements or instructions. Our results suggest that effective interventions tended to use multiple modes of delivery, indicating high social marketing complexity. However, this is only part of intervention development, and social marketing principles are key to driving the development process. We identified consistent aspects of intervention design, but were unable to determine whether this is based on evidence of effectiveness or a lack of originality in intervention design. An openness to novel ideas in design and delivery is key to ensuring that evidence-informed interventions are effective for target populations

Understanding young people’s use and non-use of condoms and contraception: a co-developed, mixed-methods study with 16-24 year olds in Scotland. Final report from CONUNDRUM (CONdom and CONtraception UNDerstandings: Researching Uptake and Motivations)

No abstract available

The effectiveness of social marketing interventions to improve HIV testing among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men: A systematic review

HIV testing is central to biomedical HIV prevention, but testing among men who have sex with men remains suboptimal. We evaluated effectiveness of mass media and communication interventions to increase HIV testing and explored patterns between study type, internal validity and intervention effectiveness for the first time. Five databases were searched for articles published between 2009 and 2016 using standard MeSH terms. Eligible studies were quality appraised using standard checklists for risk of bias. Data were extracted and synthesised narratively. Nineteen studies met inclusion criteria; 11 were cross-sectional/non-comparative studies, four were pre/post or interrupted time series, three were randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and one was a case study. Risk of bias was high. Five cross-sectional (two graded as high internal validity, one medium and two low) and one RCT (medium validity) reported increased HIV testing. Further work is required to develop and evaluate interventions to increase frequency and maintenance of HIV testing

Initial Impacts of COVID-19 on Sex Life and Relationship Quality in Steady Relationships in Britain: Findings from a Large, Quasi-representative Survey (Natsal-COVID)

Intimate relationships are ubiquitous and exert a strong influence on health. Widespread disruption to them may impact wellbeing at a population level. We investigated the extent to which the first COVID-19 lockdown (March 2020) affected steady relationships in Britain. In total, 6,654 participants aged 18-59 years completed a web-panel survey (July-August 2020). Quasi-representativeness was achieved via quota sampling and weighting. We explored changes in sex life and relationship quality among participants in steady relationships (n = 4,271) by age, gender, and cohabitation status, and examined factors associated with deterioration to a lower-quality relationship. A total of 64.2% of participants were in a steady relationship (of whom 88.9% were cohabiting). A total of 22.1% perceived no change in their sex-life quality, and 59.5% no change in their relationship quality. Among those perceiving change, sex-life quality was more commonly reported to decrease and relationship quality to improve. There was significant variation by age; less often by gender or cohabitation. Overall, 10.6% reported sexual difficulties that started/worsened during lockdown. In total, 6.9% reported deterioration to a "lower quality" relationship, more commonly those: aged 18-24 and aged 35-44; not living with partner (women only); and reporting depression/anxiety and decrease in sex-life quality. In conclusion, intimate relationship quality is yet another way in which COVID-19 has led to divergence in experience

Men who have sex with men in Great Britain: comparing methods and estimates from probability and convenience sample surveys.

OBJECTIVE: To examine sociodemographic and behavioural differences between men who have sex with men (MSM) participating in recent UK convenience surveys and a national probability sample survey. METHODS: We compared 148 MSM aged 18-64 years interviewed for Britain's third National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal-3) undertaken in 2010-2012, with men in the same age range participating in contemporaneous convenience surveys of MSM: 15 500 British resident men in the European MSM Internet Survey (EMIS); 797 in the London Gay Men's Sexual Health Survey; and 1234 in Scotland's Gay Men's Sexual Health Survey. Analyses compared men reporting at least one male sexual partner (past year) on similarly worded questions and multivariable analyses accounted for sociodemographic differences between the surveys. RESULTS: MSM in convenience surveys were younger and better educated than MSM in Natsal-3, and a larger proportion identified as gay (85%-95% vs 62%). Partner numbers were higher and same-sex anal sex more common in convenience surveys. Unprotected anal intercourse was more commonly reported in EMIS. Compared with Natsal-3, MSM in convenience surveys were more likely to report gonorrhoea diagnoses and HIV testing (both past year). Differences between the samples were reduced when restricting analysis to gay-identifying MSM. CONCLUSIONS: National probability surveys better reflect the population of MSM but are limited by their smaller samples of MSM. Convenience surveys recruit larger samples of MSM but tend to over-represent MSM identifying as gay and reporting more sexual risk behaviours. Because both sampling strategies have strengths and weaknesses, methods are needed to triangulate data from probability and convenience surveys

Methodology of Natsal-COVID Wave 2: A large, quasi-representative, longitudinal survey measuring the impact of COVID-19 on sexual and reproductive health in Britain [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]

Background: The National Surveys of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles COVID study (Natsal-COVID) was designed to understand the impact of COVID-19 on Britain’s sexual and reproductive health (SRH). Natsal-COVID Wave 1 survey and qualitative follow-up interviews were conducted in 2020. The Wave 2 survey was designed to capture one-year prevalence estimates for key SRH outcomes and measure changes over the first year of the pandemic. We describe the Wave 2 survey methodology and assess the sample representativeness. Methods: Natsal-COVID Wave 2 was conducted March-April 2021; approximately one year after the start of Britain’s first national lockdown. Data were collected using an online web-panel survey administered by Ipsos. The sample comprised a longitudinal sample of Wave 1 participants who had agreed to re-contact plus a sample of participants residing in Britain, aged 18-59, including a boost sample comprising people aged 18-29. Questions covered reproductive health, relationships, sexual behaviour and SRH service use. Quotas and weighting were used to achieve a quasi-representative sample of the British population. Comparisons were made with recent national probability surveys, Natsal-3 (2010-12) and Natsal-COVID Wave 1 to understand bias. Results: A total of 6,658 individuals completed the survey. In terms of gender, age, ethnicity, and rurality, the weighted Natsal-COVID Wave 2 sample was like the general population. Participants were less likely to be married or to report being in good health than the general population. The longitudinal sample (n=2,098) were broadly like participants who only took part in Wave 1 but were older. Among the sexually active, longitudinal participants were less likely to report multiple sexual partners or a new sexual partner in the past year compared to those who only took part in Wave 1. Conclusions: Natsal-COVID collected longitudinal, quasi-representative population data to enable evaluation of the population-level impact of COVID-19 on SRH and to inform policy

Social marketing and mass media interventions to increase sexually transmissible infections (STIs) testing among young people : social marketing and visual design component analysis

Introduction: Globally, sexually transmissible infections (STIs) continue to disproportionately affect young people. Regular STI testing is an important public health strategy but remains low among this age group. Raising awareness of testing is an essential step and requires effective interventions designed for young people. To inform the development of effective interventions that promote STI testing among young people, we conducted a systematic literature review to describe the social marketing and visual design components commonly found in STI testing interventions and explore associations of these components with intervention effectiveness. Methods: We used a systemic review methodology to identify peer-reviewed articles that met pre-defined inclusion criteria. Social marketing and visual component analyses were conducted using structured data extraction tools and coding schemes, based on the eight key social marketing principles and 28 descriptive dimensions for visual analysis. Results: 18 studies focusing on 13 separate interventions met the inclusion criteria. Most interventions used photograph-based images, using conventionally attractive actors, positioned centrally and making direct eye contact to engage the viewer. The majority of interventions featured text sparingly and drew on a range of tones (e.g. serious, humorous, positive, reassuring, empowering and informative) and three interventions used sexualised content. Four articles explicitly stated that the interventions was informed by social marketing principles, with two explicitly referencing all eight principles. Around half of the articles reported using a formal theoretical framework, but most were considered to have theoretical constructs implicit in interventions materials. Four articles provided detailed information regarding developmental consumer research or pre-testing. All articles suggested segmentation and development of materials specifically for young people. Explicit consideration of motivation and competition was lacking across all articles. This study found that there were some design elements common to interventions which were considered more effective. High social marketing complexity (where interventions met at least seven of the 11 criteria for complexity) seemed to be associated with more effective interventions. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the incorporation of social marketing principles, could be more important for intervention effectiveness than specific elements of visual design. Effective and systematic use of social marketing principles may help to inform future evidence-informed and theoretically based interventions and should be employed within sexual health improvement efforts