Trends and the Gender Gap in the Reporting of Sexual Initiation Among 15-Year-Olds: A Comparison of 33 European Countries.

Early sexual intercourse initiation has been associated with immediate and long-term risks, which makes the study of trends in sexual initiation an important topic for policy makers. This study investigated trends over time in reported sexual initiation among 15-year-olds across 33 countries between 2010-2018. In addition, we examined if there were cross-country differences in the gender gap in reported sexual initiation in 2018, and whether these could be attributed to gender inequality and gender role attitudes.

Sex Surveys in Europe: Reflections on over Four Decades of Sexual Behavior and Sexual Health Surveillance.

Sexual expression is fundamental to human existence and an important topic of enquiry in its own right. Understanding sexual behavior is also essential to establish effective sexual health prevention activities (e.g.

[The Lifestyle Monitor: prevalence rates for health policy].

The Lifestyle Monitor (LSM) was launched in 2013 on behalf of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports to reorganize the multiple data collections in the field of lifestyle and health in the Netherlands. The reorganization should enhance the efficiency and coherence of the lifestyle and health data collections and should provide unambiguous figures for policymakers. This article describes the background and content (including the lifestyle-themes) of the LSM and the tasks and roles of the collaborating parties involved.

Perceived Changes in Sexual Interest and Distress About Discrepant Sexual Interest During the First Phase of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Multi-Country Assessment in Cohabiting Partnered Individuals.

Due to COVID-19 pandemic, different restrictive measures in terms of physical distancing and lockdowns have been introduced in most European countries, affecting all facets of social life. Currently, little is known about how partnered individuals perceive changes in their sexual life during this complex emergency. This study explored retrospectively assessed changes in sexual interest for one's partner and levels of distress related to perceived sexual interest discrepancy during the first phase of the pandemic in a large-scale online sample of partnered individuals (n = 4813; M = 38.

Prevalence and Correlates of Sext-Sharing Among a Representative Sample of Youth in the Netherlands.

Many adolescents use their electronic devices to send each other sexually explicit texts, photos, and videos of themselves-commonly known as sexting. This can be fun and is not usually problematic. However, if the intended recipient decides to share these sexts with a broader audience, the consequences for the depicted can be detrimental.

Sexual Complaints and Ethnicity: Ethnic Differences in a Help-Seeking Sample.

Background: Sexual complaints are a widespread problem around the globe. Ethnicity and culture play a vital role in sexual complaints, in terms of presentation, treatment, etiology, meaning, help-seeking behavior, and treatment preferences.

Aim: This study investigates whether there are differences in the type of sexual complaints among Dutch people with various ethnic backgrounds, using a help-seeking sample from 16 outpatient clinics based in different regions in the Netherlands.

Youth's Socio-Sexual Competences With Romantic and Casual Sexual Partners.

We investigated youth's self-reported socio-sexual competences (esteem, assertiveness, control, communication) within their most recent sexual partnerships, and explored disparities in these competences between versus sexual partnerships, including age and gender differences therein. Data were used from 6,098 Dutch adolescents and young adults (12.1-26.

Placing sexually transmitted infection surveillance data in perspective by using national probability sample surveys.

Background: Many European countries do not have comprehensive sexually transmitted infection (STI) surveillance in place. The objective was to investigate whether national probability sample surveys are useful in placing STI surveillance into perspective.

Methods: We used data from the Dutch national cross-sectional probability sample survey on sexual health 2016 (18-34-year-old sexually active individuals).

An approach to assessing the quality of birth centres results of the Dutch birth centre study.

Objective: to determine the usability of a recently developed set of 30 structure and process birth centre quality indicators.

Design: an explorative study using mixed-methods including literature, a survey, interviews and observations. The study is part of the Dutch Birth Centre Study.

[Sex under the age of 25 in 2017: the sexual health of young people in the Netherlands].

Objective: To gain insight in the sexual health of young people aged 12 to 25 in the Netherlands. Municipal health services and other stakeholders in the area of the promotion of sexual health were involved in various phases of this study, the results of which can be applied better to maintaining or improving the sexual health of young people.

Design: Large-scale representative study with a cross-sectional design which was previously conducted in 2005 and 2012.

National prevalence estimates of chlamydia and gonorrhoea in the Netherlands.

Objectives: National prevalence estimates of (chlamydia) and (gonorrhoea) are important for providing insights in the occurrence and control of these STIs. The aim was to obtain national prevalence estimates for chlamydia and gonorrhoea and to investigate risk factors associated with infection.

Methods: Between November 2016 and January 2017, we performed a national population-based cross-sectional probability sample survey among men and women aged 18-34 years in the Netherlands.

Offline and Online Sexual Risk Behavior among Youth in the Netherlands: Findings from "Sex under the Age of 25".

Sexually developing adolescents and emerging adults face sexual health risks as well as potentially negative outcomes of online sexual behaviors. The goal of this study was to describe three categories of sexual risk behavior: (1) behavior related to STI/HIV, (2) behavior related to unplanned pregnancy, and (3) online sexual risk behavior. In addition, we investigated whether these behaviors are actually related to negative (health) outcomes.

Developing quality indicators for assessing quality of birth centre care: a mixed- methods study.

Background: Birth centres are described as settings where women with uncomplicated pregnancies can give birth in a home-like environment assisted by midwives and maternity care assistants. If complications arise or threaten, the woman is referred to a maternity unit of a hospital where an obstetrician will take over responsibility. In the last decade, a number of new birth centres have been established in the Netherlands, based on the assumption that birth centres provide better quality of care since they offer a better opportunity for more integrated care than the existing system with independent primary and secondary care providers.

Sexual Trajectories of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Adults in the Netherlands.

Studies on sexual trajectories of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people generally focus on the first same-sex attraction and sexual experience, and their relation to self-identification and coming out as LGB. Relational and opposite-sex experiences are generally not taken into account. The aim of this study was to provide a more comprehensive overview of LGBs' sexual trajectories and to distinguish subsamples with different trajectories.

Sexuality and Autistic-Like Symptoms in Juvenile Sex Offenders: A Follow-Up After 8 Years.

Juveniles who have committed a sexual offense (JSOs) are thought to have abnormal sexual development, as well as increased ASD symptoms. In the current study, sexual development and behavior, as well as stability of ASD-like symptoms were assessed in a sample of 44 male JSOs (mean age 24.7 ± 1.

Comparing databases: determinants of sexually transmitted infections, HIV diagnoses, and lack of HIV testing among men who have sex with men.

Background: Early detection and treatment of STI/HIV are public health priorities. Our objective was to compare characteristics of men who have sex with men (MSM) in Dutch data available in 2010 from EMIS, an international internet survey, Schorer Monitor, a Dutch internet survey, and data from STI- clinic visits, since these might be subject to different and unknown biases.

Methods: Data from Dutch MSM Internet Surveys (EMISNL N = 3,787; Schorer Monitor, SMON N = 3,602), and 3,800 STI clinic visits (SOAP) were combined into one dataset.

Prevalence of Non-Volitional Sex Types and Associated Factors: A National Sample of Young People.

Background: Non-volitional sex (NVS) in young people continues to be a major public health problem with long-term negative health outcomes. For the first time, the prevalence of different types of NVS and associated factors are compared between young people with same-sex sexual activities and those who have not.

Methods: We obtained data from 10,401 young women and men (aged 12 to 25 years) who participated in a population study on sexual health, the Netherlands.

Adolescents' Social Network Site Use, Peer Appearance-Related Feedback, and Body Dissatisfaction: Testing a Mediation Model.

Previous correlational research indicates that adolescent girls who use social network sites more frequently are more dissatisfied with their bodies. However, we know little about the causal direction of this relationship, the mechanisms underlying this relationship, and whether this relationship also occurs among boys to the same extent. The present two-wave panel study (18 month time lag) among 604 Dutch adolescents (aged 11-18; 50.

Educational Differences in Adolescents' Sexual Health: A Pervasive Phenomenon in a National Dutch Sample.

Educational level is strongly associated with age of first intercourse and risk of unintended pregnancies. This study examined these associations in a large representative sample of Dutch adolescents and also included associations of educational level with other sexual health aspects. Adolescents aged 12 to 25 (3,926 boys and 3,915 girls) completed an online questionnaire that included measures of romantic and sexual experience; the evaluation of their sexual debut; the risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and pregnancy; and sexual attitudes, satisfaction, self-efficacy, knowledge, victimization, and functioning.

Parents as moderators of longitudinal associations between sexual peer norms and Dutch adolescents' sexual initiation and intention.

Purpose: The present study investigated how parents and peers interact in promoting or delaying Dutch adolescents' sexual initiation and intention and focused specifically on parents as moderators of peer influence.

Methods: Using a longitudinal design, two waves of online questionnaire data were collected among 900 Dutch adolescents (M = 13.8 years at T1), who were sexually inexperienced at baseline.

Reciprocal relationships between friends' and parental mediation of adolescents' media use and their sexual attitudes and behavior.

Research has argued that adolescents are at risk for harmful effects of sexual media, but little is known about the role of parents and friends on adolescents' media use in regard of these effects. The present two-wave study investigated whether prior parental and friends' influences on adolescents' use of sexual media shape their sexual attitudes and behaviors, and vice versa if prior sexual attitudes and behaviors predict parental and friends' media mediation. At two measurement points 18 months apart, 528 adolescents (12-17 years; 51.

Family cohesion and romantic and sexual initiation: a three wave longitudinal study.

Although the relation between family relationships and the timing of sexual debut has been the focus of many studies, research on mediating factors is scarce. This study examines whether low levels of family cohesion result in an earlier onset of romantic and sexual experiences, and whether the link between family cohesion and an early sexual debut is mediated by early romantic initiation. A longitudinal sample of 314 adolescent girls and 222 boys, aged 12-17 at Wave 1, completed questionnaires at three measurement points with three year intervals.

The psychological measurement of childhood sexual development in Western societies: methodological challenges.

Children can display sexual behavior or have sexual experiences. Different psychological research methods are available for studying these kinds of behaviors and feelings, such as interviewing or observing children (direct methods), asking adolescents or adults to retrospectively report their childhood memories or using intermediaries to observe children (indirect methods). Each of these methods has its own advantages and limitations.

Parental support and knowledge and adolescents' sexual health: testing two mediational models in a national Dutch sample.

This study investigated age- and gender-specific associations between parental support and parental knowledge of the child's whereabouts, on the one hand, and sexual experience and sexual health (the ability to have safe and pleasurable sexual experiences) on the other hand. A representative Dutch sample of 1,263 males and 1,353 females (aged 12-25 years), who had previously engaged in sexual intercourse, completed a questionnaire that included measures of these constructs. Both parental support and knowledge were positively associated with contraceptive use, social skills in sexual interactions, sexual satisfaction, and delay of sexual debut.