TY - JOUR
T1 - Accessing sexual health information online
T2 - Use, motivations and consequences for youth with different sexual orientations
AU - Mitchell, Kimberly J.
AU - Ybarra, Michele L.
AU - Korchmaros, Josephine D.
AU - Kosciw, Joseph G.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [Grant No. R01 HD057191]. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development or the National Institutes of Health.
PY - 2014/2
Y1 - 2014/2
N2 - We examine reasons why youth of different sexual orientations look for sexual health information online, and what, if anything, they do with it. The Teen Health and Technology study involved online surveys of 5542 Internet users, ages 13 through 18 in the United States. Searching for sexual health information online was reported frequently and varied significantly by sexual orientation: from 19% of heterosexual youth to 78% of gay/lesbian/queer youth. The most common reasons youth look for sexual health information is for privacy and curiosity. Sexual minority youth are more likely than heterosexual youth to report that they looked for information online because they did not have anyone to ask. Once youth have the information, no differences by sexual orientation were noted as to what they did with it. Instead, seeking out the information for privacy-related reasons and having no one to ask were related to taking some action on the information received. Findings indicate that online information is most valuable to those youth who lack alternatives. Care needs to be taken to help ensure that the sexual health information online is accurate and includes topics specific to sexual minority youth.
AB - We examine reasons why youth of different sexual orientations look for sexual health information online, and what, if anything, they do with it. The Teen Health and Technology study involved online surveys of 5542 Internet users, ages 13 through 18 in the United States. Searching for sexual health information online was reported frequently and varied significantly by sexual orientation: from 19% of heterosexual youth to 78% of gay/lesbian/queer youth. The most common reasons youth look for sexual health information is for privacy and curiosity. Sexual minority youth are more likely than heterosexual youth to report that they looked for information online because they did not have anyone to ask. Once youth have the information, no differences by sexual orientation were noted as to what they did with it. Instead, seeking out the information for privacy-related reasons and having no one to ask were related to taking some action on the information received. Findings indicate that online information is most valuable to those youth who lack alternatives. Care needs to be taken to help ensure that the sexual health information online is accurate and includes topics specific to sexual minority youth.
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U2 - 10.1093/her/cyt071
DO - 10.1093/her/cyt071
M3 - Article
C2 - 23861481
AN - SCOPUS:84892694646
SN - 0268-1153
VL - 29
SP - 147
EP - 157
JO - Health education research
JF - Health education research
IS - 1
ER -