Sexual intercourse, age of initiation and contraception among adolescents in Ireland: findings from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) Ireland study

Background: The need to tackle sexual health problems and promote positive sexual health has been acknowledged in Irish health policy. Young people’s sexual behaviour however remains under-researched with limited national data available. Methods: This study presents the first nationally representative and internationally comparable data on young people’s sexual health behaviours in Ireland. Self-complete questionnaire data were collected from 4494 schoolchildren aged 15-18 as part of a broader examination of health behaviour and their context. The prevalence of sexual initiation, very early sexual initiation (<14 years) and non-condom use at last intercourse are reported and used as outcomes in separate multilevel logistic regression models examining associations between sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle characteristics and young people’s sexual behaviours. Results: Overall, 25.7% of boys and 21.2% of girls were sexually initiated. Older age was consistently predictive of initiation for both boys and girls, as were alcohol, tobacco and cannabis involvement, living in poorer neighbourhoods and having good communication with friends. Involvement in music and drama was protective. Very early sexual initiation (<14 years) was reported by 22.8% of sexually initiated boys and 13.4% of the sexually initiated girls, and was consistently associated with rural living, cannabis involvement, bullying others and attending fewer health check-ups for both. Boys’ very early initiation was predicted by alcohol involvement, receiving unhealthy food from parents and taking medication for psychological symptoms, whereas better communication with friends and more experience of health symptoms were protective. Girls’ very early initiation was predicted by belonging to a non-Traveller community, whereas taking medication for physical symptoms was protective. Condom use was reported by 80% of sexually initiated students at last intercourse. Boys’ condom use was associated with older age, higher social class, bullying others and self-care behaviours. For girls, condom use was predicted by belonging to a non-Traveller community, healthy food consumption, higher quality of life and being bullied, whereas taking medication for physical and psychological symptoms was associated with non-condom use. Conclusions: These nationally representative research findings highlight the importance of focusing on young people as a distinct population subgroup with unique influences on their sexual health requiring targeted interventions and policy

Ethical review and children’s research in Ireland.

A substantial increase in research into the lives of children has been experienced over the last 20 years in many countries, including Ireland. This increase is not only in the amount of research undertaken, but also in the multidisciplinary range of such research. Research with children involves working with potentially vulnerable participants, who not only require specific protection but also have the capacity for independent agency that necessitates respect from researchers. With the increase in research, there has been a related increase in awareness by the research community of the need to ensure that all research with children is carried out to the highest ethical standards. Until recently, ethical review of research was left to the discretion of the researchers, who were generally considered sufficiently trustworthy to safeguard their participants’ rights and well-being by virtue of their education and professional standing. Over the last two decades, however, it has become more common to convene Research Ethics Committees to review research proposals with the goal of ensuring that ethical requirements are fulfilled and to provide ethical oversight to researchers. This has resulted in an increase in the number of Research Ethics Committees operating worldwide, including in Ireland. In relation to children’s research, ethical review attempts to ensure that research projects have provisions in place that will enable researchers to do justice to the duties of both protection and respect of child participants. However, a variety of problematic issues have been highlighted. Research with children into the ethics of children’s research has identified tensions between balancing risk and benefit, on the one hand, and autonomy, competence and parental authority, on the other. The reliability and validity of review by Research Ethics Committee has also been brought into question: not only are requirements vastly different between countries (Hearnshaw, 2004), but there is ample evidence to show that decision-making by different Research Ethics Committees In the same country can differ significantly (Garfield, 1995), even when they are governed by the same authority (Angell et al, 2006). In order to counter this variability, it has been argued that increased regulation needs to be put in place and this has happened in some countries

Short report HBSC Ireland 2014. Alcohol and cannabis use in school-children in Ireland.

The Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study is a cross-national research study conducted in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Office for Europe and runs on a four-year cycle. In 2014, Ireland participated for the fifth time in the HBSC study (www.nuigalway.ie/hbsc). The overall aims of the HBSC study are to gain new insight into, and increase our understanding of young people’s health and well-being, health behaviours and their social context. HBSC collects data on key indicators of health, health attitudes, and health behaviours, as well as the context of health for young people. The study is a school-based survey with information collected from students through self-completion questionnaires in classrooms. HBSC Ireland 2014 was funded by the Department of Health. This short report presents a brief analysis of alcohol and cannabis intake among Irish school-children, aged 13-17, across the country broken down by age and gender. Overall, data from 7,320 school-children aged 13-17 were analysed

Scoping review of case management in the treatment of drug and alcohol misuse, 2003–2013.

This is the final report of a scoping review commissioned by the HRB National Drugs Library. The objective of the review was to examine the peer-reviewed non-experimental literature on case management and substance use published between 2003 and 2013, and to answer specific research questions based on the literature. These comprised questions on the nature of case management, the outcomes that have been studied, and gaps in the literature

Parents' Support and Knowledge of Their Daughters' Lives, and Females' Early Sexual Initiation In Nine European Countries

The association between early sexual initiation and parenting practices (e.g., support and knowledge) has not been tested in multiple European population-based samples using the same instrument

Who I Am: The Meaning of Early Adolescents’ Most Valued Activities and Relationships, and Implications for Self-Concept Research

Self-concept research in early adolescence typically measures young people’s self-perceptions of competence in specific, adult-defined domains. However, studies have rarely explored young people’s own views of valued self-concept factors and their meanings. For two major self domains, the active and the social self, this mixed-methods study identified factors valued most by 526 young people from socioeconomically diverse backgrounds in Ireland (10-12 years), and explored the meanings associated with these in a stratified subsample (n = 99). Findings indicate that self-concept scales for early adolescence omit active and social self factors and meanings valued by young people, raising questions about content validity of scales in these domains. Findings also suggest scales may under-represent girls’ active and social selves; focus too much on some school-based competencies; and, in omitting intrinsically salient self domains and meanings, may focus more on contingent (extrinsic) rather than true (intrinsic) self-esteem