Addressing gatekeeper concerns

This position is used to argue against the inclusion of adolescents in sexuality-related research. 

Counter arguments

• Younger adolescents are often more aware of sexuality than adults recognise.
• In the UK, most 14-year-olds have engaged in some form of partnered intimate activity such as kissing (Kelly et al., 2019).
• Exposure to pornography among younger adolescents is widespread and normalised; in the UK, over half of 11-13 year olds report having seen pornography (BBFC, 2019).
• A report by the Children’s Commissioner (Children’s Commissioner, 2023) found that a fifth (21%) of males aged 16-21 viewed pornographic content at least once a day in the two weeks prior to the survey. 
• Beyond porn, young people are exposed to a wide range of other information about sex and sexuality - both accurate and inaccurate - online and through peers. Quality research can help young people access reliable, accurate, and comprehensive information.
• Excluding young people from research that may benefit their health is unethical - without young people’s input, research may be skewed, or insufficiently nuanced, leading to gaps in understanding and failure to meet young people’s needs.

Tailoring research

• Use filtering to ensure age-appropriateness of questions. For example, a question on sexual orientation may be appropriate for older adolescents. Younger adolescents could instead be asked who they are attracted to (boys, girls, both, other).
• Where possible, use questionnaire items which have been co-developed (or at least validated for use) with the age group you are researching.

This is used to argue against any area of health in which questions can feel intrusive.

Counter arguments

• Sexuality-related research is about health, not intrusion. We need to understand private thoughts and experiences to address issues like depression, anxiety, unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.
• Understanding problems is the fundamental first step in addressing them. It is especially important for research to provide accurate information on sexual attitudes, behaviour and experiences because people find it difficult to talk about these issues openly in other contexts.
• Questions about health-related behaviours experienced by some individuals as private are commonly included in health and social research to help better public health. For instance, research regularly explores behaviours and experiences relating to alcohol and drug use, diet and physical activity, sleep, and so on. When it comes to sex, the behaviour of individuals can also impact the health of others, including their partners.
• Sexuality research with adolescents can be conducted in ways that respect young people’s privacy and confidentiality.

Tailoring research

• Work with young people from the target age group to co-produce information that will be given to survey participants (e.g., in survey introductions and consent forms) about the steps taken to protect participant anonymity and data security.
• Ensure that participants have privacy to complete questionnaires. In school-based surveys, this might involve setting up ‘exam conditions’ where students cannot see each other’s answers. Where possible, consider having researchers or others external to the school present so students can ask questions to people with whom they do not have a pre-existing relationship.
• Ensure that participants can skip sensitive questions and are reminded that they don’t have to take part and can stop at any time without repercussion.
• Ensure you have a clear plan for how data from each question will be used in analysis and reported. If you are not clear how you will use data from certain question, re-consider their inclusion.
• Check possibilities for deductive disclosure of small categories. That is, even though personal information has been removed, there is the possibility of an individual being identified through unique characteristics.

This is sometimes used to argue against the inclusion of questions on specific sexual practices.

Counter arguments

• There is no evidence that asking questions in a research context encourages sexual activity.
• There is no evidence that straightforward discussion of sex in educational contexts encourages behaviour. Rather, evidence consistently shows that comprehensive sex education leads to a host of positive health outcomes with lifelong impacts. These include improved social and emotional learning, decreased perpetration or victimization of gender-based violence, and improved media literacy (Goldfarb & Lieberman, 2021).

Tailoring research

• Questions on specific practices (e.g., oral or anal sex) tend to attract the most opposition from parents or professional stakeholders (e.g., local government); consider how you will use these questions in analysis and be sure that you need to ask them.

This argument is sometimes used to argue against asking young people questions about negative, or non-consensual sexual experiences.

Questions on these topics can cause upsetting thoughts and feelings for some young people. Establishing informed consent and good aftercare procedures are essential. 

Counter arguments

• It is the experiences themselves that are upsetting, not being asked about them. Having accurate information about negative or non-consensual experiences can help inform efforts to prevent such experiences from happening.
• Not asking about experiences may be upsetting in itself. Asking young people about their experiences can validate them and provide opportunity to discuss experiences.
• Young people are more comfortable being asked about their sexual experiences for research purposes than many adults assume. A large survey in the US found the vast majority of young people (>95%) were happy to answer questions about their sexual orientation and gender identity (Katz-Wise et al, 2023).
• Studies with sexual and gender minority youth have found most are comfortable answering questions about their sexual identity, sexual behaviours and experiences, and their mental health (Mustanski et al., 2011). Most young people felt the perceived benefits of the research outweighed the drawbacks of participation (Macapagal et al, 2017).
• See here for a useful resource outlining evidence-based recommendations for ethical research practices with sexual and gender minority adolescents.
• There are already many avenues through which young people discuss gender and sexuality without parental consent. Young people access youth sexual health services, gender and sexuality support groups, online platforms, relationships and sex education classes.

Tailoring research

• All researchers that directly engage with young people should be trained in safeguarding and have an up-to-date criminal record check. Ideally researchers will also engage with training to ensure their study design and procedures take a trauma-informed approach.
• Researchers should have a clear plan for how they will respond if a young person does become distressed while participating in a study, and for signposting all young people to relevant support services (e.g., at the end of a survey; or interview).
• Informed consent processes must be explicit in stating if there will be questions about negative or non-consensual experiences so that those who do not wish to be asked these questions can opt out.
• Where young people do opt to take part, questions that ask about negative or non-consensual experiences require careful introduction within the survey or interview (e.g., a few sentences explaining the focus of the questions that will follow). These introductions should acknowledge potential for distress, and re-emphasise that questions can be skipped over, or returned to later on.