Brian Unis

The transition from childhood to adolescence is a period which bears with it risks for both psychological and physical health problems, such as problems with forming one’s identity and problems related to sexuality (Transitions Theory, Meleis). There are gaps in knowledge about young people’s conceptions and experiences which have a decisive significance for the design of interventions for health promotion and disease prevention.

The aim of the research project is to explore young people in late adolescence sexual behavior, their conceptions concerning sex, sexual relationships and sex education, their need for knowledge and support related to sexuality. A further aim is to explore professionals’ views on promotion of sexual health, and interprofessional collaboration in relation to young peoples’ sexual health.

Study 1: High School Students’ sexual behavior and self-esteem, data collection done by a survey (an article on the study has been published).

Study 2: Adolescents’ conceptions of learning about sex and relationships. The design of the study is qualitative with focus group interviews, analyzed on the basis of phenomenography.  An article has been resubmitted after revisions to a journal.

Study 3: High school students’ need for knowledge about sex and sexual relationships along with support related to sexuality. The study will be conducted using a qualitative method, using grounded theory (Charmaz, 2014), in which data is collected through open interviews. 

Study 4: Professionals’ experience of sexual health promotion, and further to explore their views in interprofessional collaboration. The study will be conducted using a qualitative method, using grounded theory, in which data is collected through open interviews.