Four years later, the second part of my MPH culminating experience research has been published! The first part, on adolescents’ thought about sexual pleasure, was published in the Journal of Sex Research in 2016 and this second part, on adolescents’ thoughts about sexual difficulties, has been published in the American Journal of Sexuality Education! Like my previous publication, this is a secondary data analysis of message board comments young people made in a web-based sexual health intervention. This is focused on a message board related to sexual difficulties (e.g., being unable to maintain an erection), the related anxiety it can cause, and how to address it. It includes some quantitative measures as well.
I’m excited about it. Yes, it was lots of work doing the secondary data analysis and writing to begin with, and then revising it to submit, so it’s great to feel the sense of accomplishment with seeing all of that work acknowledged. But, I’m more excited about the fact that people will be engaging with it and hopefully integrating education about sexual difficulties, particularly the role communication plays, into the sex ed they are doing. I know that doing this research has informed how I am doing my work, and through addressing it in programming, that it is something that is pertinent to young people. I’ve had discussions with young people that have mirrored messages and discussion on the message board, and much like in the message board, seen a young person provide great advice to another about how to support a partner and deal with anxiety about sex and sexual difficulties. As someone who’s not primarily working in research and thinks about how research is used, it is reassuring to see all the connections between this research and my work as an educator. And, that what the participants said in in the study seems to still represent how young people are experiencing sexual difficulties and coping with them.