Acceptance and use of condoms among school-aged young people in Australia.

Background: Despite availability of vaccines or medical prophylaxis for some sexually transmissible infections (STIs), promoting condom use remains an important public health strategy for the prevention of STIs. Recent research shows that regular condom use among young people in Australia has declined over the past decade, while the rate of common STIs has increased.

Method: In this paper, we report findings from a large survey of school-aged young people in Australia (14-18years old) in which we looked at the association between condom use and positive feelings about sex, beliefs about social acceptability of condoms and confidence talking with partners about sex and condoms.

Sexting and sexual behaviour in Australian adolescents.

Background: Previous studies have tried to determine the relationship between sexting and risky behaviour to discover whether sexting fits into a deviance or normalcy discourse. This study investigated the relationship between sexting and sexual risk behaviours, contraception use and gender.

Methods: The design was a cross-sectional analysis of data from the sixth National Survey of Secondary Student and Adolescent Sexual Health, collected in 2018.

Descriptive norms about condom use predict odds of using a condom during last sexual experience in a large, national survey of adolescents from Australia.

Background: Reducing sexually transmitted infections among adolescents is an important public health goal in Australia and worldwide. This study estimated the association between condom use during last heterosexual sexual experience with two descriptive norms among a large, national sample of secondary school students from Australia.

Methods: A large, national online survey of 14- to 18-year-olds in Australia was conducted in 2018; a sub-analysis of sexually active participants (n =2989) used multivariable logistic regression to estimate the relationships between condom use during last sexual experience and condom use norms.

Prevalence Rates of Sexual Behaviors, Condom Use, and Contraception Among Australian Heterosexual Adolescents.

Background: The development of effective health promotion practices and education programs to reduce rates of sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancy requires accurate, up-to-date information about young people's sexual behaviors.

Aims: To provide prevalence rates on sexual behaviors and condom and contraceptive use for Australian year 10-12 heterosexual students in a nationally representative sample.

Methods: A nationally representative sample of 2,301 male and 2,055 female year 10 through 12 heterosexual students were recruited to an online survey about their lifetime sexual behaviors and condom and contraceptive use.

Effectiveness of a Mental Health Service Navigation Website (Link) for Young Adults: Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Mental health and substance use disorders are the main causes of disability among adolescents and young adults yet fewer than half experiencing these problems seek professional help. Young people frequently search the Web for health information and services, suggesting that Web-based modalities might promote help-seeking among young people who need it. To support young people in their help-seeking, we developed a Web-based mental health service navigation website called Link.

The Cost-Effectiveness of an Internet Intervention to Facilitate Mental Health Help-Seeking by Young Adults: Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Little empirical evidence is available to support the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of internet interventions to increase help-seeking behavior for mental health in young adults.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of a Web-based mental health help-seeking navigation tool (Link) in comparison with usual help-seeking strategies.

Methods: A cost-utility analysis alongside the main randomized trial of Link was conducted from the Australian health care sector perspective.

Facilitating mental health help-seeking by young adults with a dedicated online program: a feasibility study of Link.

Objective: To explore the feasibility of a dedicated online youth mental health help-seeking intervention and to evaluate using a randomised controlled trial (RCT) study design in order to identify any modifications needed before commencement of the full-scale RCT.

Design: A pilot RCT with 1:1 randomisation to either the intervention or comparison arm.

Setting: An online study conducted Australia-wide.

Health profiles of overweight and obese youth attending general practice.

Background: Literature suggests that overweight and obese young people use healthcare services more often, but this awaits confirmation in primary care.

Objective: To identify health profiles of underweight, overweight and obese young people attending general practice and compare them to normal-weight youth and also to explore the weight-related health risks of eating and exercise behaviour in the four different weight categories.

Methods: This study used a cross-sectional design with baseline data from a trial including 683 young people (14-24 years of age) presenting to general practice.

Road safety risks in young people attending general practice: A cross-sectional study of road risks and associated health risks.

Background: Young people have a large burden of death and disease from risky road behaviours. Guidelines recommend injury prevention and harm minimisation counselling; however, little is known about road risks in youth attending primary care.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the type of road risks and associated behaviours in young people attending general practice.

Does screening for and intervening with multiple health compromising behaviours and mental health disorders amongst young people attending primary care improve health outcomes? A systematic review.

Background: Adolescence and young adulthood are important developmental periods. Screening for health compromising behaviours and mental health disorders during routine primary care visits has the potential to assist clinicians to identify areas of concern and provide appropriate interventions. The objective of this systematic review is to investigate whether screening and subsequent interventions for multiple health compromising behaviours and mental health disorders in primary care settings improves the health outcomes of young people.

Do online mental health services improve help-seeking for young people? A systematic review.

Background: Young people regularly use online services to seek help and look for information about mental health problems. Yet little is known about the effects that online services have on mental health and whether these services facilitate help-seeking in young people.

Objective: This systematic review investigates the effectiveness of online services in facilitating mental health help-seeking in young people.

A mobile phone application for the assessment and management of youth mental health problems in primary care: health service outcomes from a randomised controlled trial of mobiletype.

Background: GPs detect at best 50c of mental health problems in young people. Barriers to detecting mental health problems include lack of screening tools, limited appointment times and young people's reluctance to report mental health symptoms to GPs. The mobiletype program is a mobile phone mental health assessment and management application which monitors mood, stress and everyday activities then transmits this information to general practitioners (GPs) via a secure website in summary format for medical review.

Temporal mood changes associated with different levels of adolescent drinking: using mobile phones and experience sampling methods to explore motivations for adolescent alcohol use.

Introduction And Aims: Alcohol use during adolescence is associated with the onset of alcohol use disorders, mental health disorders, substance abuse as well as socially and physically damaging behaviours, the effects of which last well into adulthood. Nevertheless, alcohol use remains prevalent in this population. Understanding motivations behind adolescent alcohol consumption may help in developing more appropriate and effective interventions.

Using a mobile phone application in youth mental health - an evaluation study.

Background: This study evaluates a mobile phone self monitoring tool designed to assist paediatricians in assessing and managing youth mental health.

Methods: Patients from an adolescent outpatient clinic monitored mental health symptoms throughout each day for 2-4 weeks. Paediatricians specialising in adolescent health and participants reviewed the collated data displayed online and completed quantitative and qualitative feedback.

Self-monitoring using mobile phones in the early stages of adolescent depression: randomized controlled trial.

Background: The stepped-care approach, where people with early symptoms of depression are stepped up from low-intensity interventions to higher-level interventions as needed, has the potential to assist many people with mild depressive symptoms. Self-monitoring techniques assist people to understand their mental health symptoms by increasing their emotional self-awareness (ESA) and can be easily distributed on mobile phones at low cost. Increasing ESA is an important first step in psychotherapy and has the potential to intervene before mild depressive symptoms progress to major depressive disorder.

A mobile phone application for the assessment and management of youth mental health problems in primary care: a randomised controlled trial.

Background: Over 75% of mental health problems begin in adolescence and primary care has been identified as the target setting for mental health intervention by the World Health Organisation. The mobiletype program is a mental health assessment and management mobile phone application which monitors mood, stress, coping strategies, activities, eating, sleeping, exercise patterns, and alcohol and cannabis use at least daily, and transmits this information to general practitioners (GPs) via a secure website in summary format for medical review.

Methods: We conducted a randomised controlled trial in primary care to examine the mental health benefits of the mobiletype program.

Investigating the utility of mobile phones for collecting data about adolescent alcohol use and related mood, stress and coping behaviours: lessons and recommendations.

Introduction And Aims: The trajectory from alcohol use to alcohol use disorders in adolescence is yet to be understood. Momentary sampling may assist in capturing 'real-time' data on young people's alcohol use and associated motivational factors. This paper aims to review the feasibility and usefulness of a mobile phone momentary sampling program to capture data about alcohol use and related behaviours.

A mobile phone program to track young people's experiences of mood, stress and coping. Development and testing of the mobiletype program.

Background: Research examining adolescent mood, stresses, and coping has tended to use retrospective questionnaires which are affected by recall biases. The aim of this study was to develop, pilot, and evaluate a youth-friendly mobile phone program to monitor, in real-time, young people's everyday experiences of mood, stress, and their coping behaviours.

Method And Design: A momentary sampling program was designed for mobile phones, and ran for 7 days, administering a brief questionnaire four random times each day, capturing information on current activity, mood, responses to negative mood, stresses, alcohol and cannabis use.