SURVEY TITLE: National American Indian Adolescent Health Survey
ACRONYM: NAIAHS
SPONSOR: unknown.
SURVEY PURPOSE: Modeled after the Youth Risk Behavior Surveys. The 162-item survey is a comprehensive assessment of adolescent risk behaviors and environments, resiliency factors, and health outcomes.
LOCATION SAMPLED: 55 Tribes in 12 Indian Health Service Areas. The sample of students came from reservation-based schools in Alaska, Arizona, California, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, South Dakota, and Tennessee. The 13,454 youths surveyed represented approximately 20% of the eligible students in the geographic areas participating in the survey.
YEARS SEXUAL ORIENTATION DATA COLLECTED: 1991.
SAMPLE SIZE: 13,454.
METHOD OF SEXUAL ORIENTATION DATA COLLECTION: Self-Completed Questionnaire.
SEXUAL ORIENTATION QUESTIONS:
Q71. “Have you ever had any kind of sexual experience with a male/ (a) yes (b) no."
Q72. "Have you ever had any kind of sexual experience with a female? (a) yes (b) no”
Q81. “Which of the following best describes your feelings? (a) 100% heterosexual (attracted to
persons of the opposite sex) (b) Mostly heterosexual (c) Bisexual (equally attracted to men and women) (d) Mostly homosexual (e) 100% gay/lesbian; attracted to persons of the same sex) (f) Not sure”
Q88. “When you think or daydream about sex, do you think about: (a) males (b) females (c) both?”
Q89. “Which of the following best describes your feelings? (a) I am only attracted to people of the same sex as mine, and I will only be sexual with persons of the same sex (b) I am strongly
attracted to people of the same sex as mine, and most of my sexual experiences will be with persons of the same sex as mine (c) I am equally attracted to men and women and would like to be sexual with both (d) I am strongly attracted to people of the opposite sex, and most of my sexual experiences will be with persons of the opposite sex (e) I am only attracted to people of the opposite sex, and I will only be sexual with persons of the opposite sex.”
RESULTS:
DATA ACCESS: unknown/unavailable.
ACRONYM: NAIAHS
SPONSOR: unknown.
SURVEY PURPOSE: Modeled after the Youth Risk Behavior Surveys. The 162-item survey is a comprehensive assessment of adolescent risk behaviors and environments, resiliency factors, and health outcomes.
LOCATION SAMPLED: 55 Tribes in 12 Indian Health Service Areas. The sample of students came from reservation-based schools in Alaska, Arizona, California, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, South Dakota, and Tennessee. The 13,454 youths surveyed represented approximately 20% of the eligible students in the geographic areas participating in the survey.
YEARS SEXUAL ORIENTATION DATA COLLECTED: 1991.
SAMPLE SIZE: 13,454.
METHOD OF SEXUAL ORIENTATION DATA COLLECTION: Self-Completed Questionnaire.
SEXUAL ORIENTATION QUESTIONS:
Q71. “Have you ever had any kind of sexual experience with a male/ (a) yes (b) no."
Q72. "Have you ever had any kind of sexual experience with a female? (a) yes (b) no”
Q81. “Which of the following best describes your feelings? (a) 100% heterosexual (attracted to
persons of the opposite sex) (b) Mostly heterosexual (c) Bisexual (equally attracted to men and women) (d) Mostly homosexual (e) 100% gay/lesbian; attracted to persons of the same sex) (f) Not sure”
Q88. “When you think or daydream about sex, do you think about: (a) males (b) females (c) both?”
Q89. “Which of the following best describes your feelings? (a) I am only attracted to people of the same sex as mine, and I will only be sexual with persons of the same sex (b) I am strongly
attracted to people of the same sex as mine, and most of my sexual experiences will be with persons of the same sex as mine (c) I am equally attracted to men and women and would like to be sexual with both (d) I am strongly attracted to people of the opposite sex, and most of my sexual experiences will be with persons of the opposite sex (e) I am only attracted to people of the opposite sex, and I will only be sexual with persons of the opposite sex.”
RESULTS:
- Saewyc EM. Skay CL. Bearinger LH. Blum RW. Resnick MD. Demographics of sexual orientation among American-Indian adolescents. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry. 68(4):590-600, 1998 Oct. Self-report of sexual orientation and sexual behavior was compared for 12,978 reservation-based American-Indian and 11,356 rural Anglo-American adolescents. Findings included a significantly higher prevalence of homosexual, bisexual, and unsure responses among American Indians. However, a larger nonresponse rate for American-Indian adolescents raises questions about the cultural relevance of the survey method, and underscores the need for development of more culturally sensitive research tools and methods.
- Saewyc EM. Bauer GR. Skay CL. Bearinger LH. Resnick MD. Reis E. Murphy A. Measuring sexual orientation in adolescent health surveys: evaluation of eight school-based surveys. Journal of Adolescent Health. 35(4):345.e1-15, 2004 Oct. PURPOSE: To examine the performance of various items measuring sexual orientation within 8 school-based adolescent health surveys in the United States and Canada from 1986 through 1999. METHODS: Analyses examined nonresponse and unsure responses to sexual orientation items compared with other survey items, demographic differences in responses, tests for response set bias, and congruence of responses to multiple orientation items; analytical methods included frequencies, contingency tables with Chi-square, and ANOVA with least significant differences (LSD)post hoc tests; all analyses were conducted separately by gender. RESULTS: In all surveys, nonresponse rates for orientation questions were similar to other sexual questions, but not higher; younger students, immigrants, and students with learning disabilities were more likely to skip items or select "unsure." Sexual behavior items had the lowest nonresponse, but fewer than half of all students reported sexual behavior, limiting its usefulness for indicating orientation. Item placement in the survey, wording, and response set bias all appeared to influence nonresponse and unsure rates. CONCLUSIONS: Specific recommendations include standardizing wording across future surveys, and pilot testing items with diverse ages and ethnic groups of teens before use. All three dimensions of orientation should be assessed where possible; when limited to single items, sexual attraction may be the best choice. Specific wording suggestions are offered for future surveys.
- Saewyc EM, Skay CL, Bearinger LH, Blum RW, Resnick MD. Sexual orientation, sexual behaviors, and pregnancy among American Indian adolescents. J Adolesc Health. 1998 Oct;23(4):238-47. PURPOSE: A recent study found a disproportionate number of pregnancies among Euro-American lesbian and bisexual adolescents compared to heterosexual peers. American Indian adolescents have reported higher prevalence of gay/lesbian/bisexual orientations than Euro-Americans; do they also report higher prevalence of pregnancy? METHODS: The study assessed prevalence of teen pregnancy and related factors by sexual orientation among sexually experienced, reservation-based American Indian adolescent males (n = 2056) and females (n = 1693) who participated in a national school-based survey in 1991. Self-reported orientation was classified as heterosexual, gay/lesbian/bisexual, and "unsure" of orientation. RESULTS: Gay/bisexual males were more likely than other males to report early heterosexual intercourse (<14 years), more consistent contraception, and a higher prevalence of abuse and running away (p < 0.05 to p < 0.0001). Likewise, lesbian/bisexual females were more likely to report early onset of heterosexual intercourse, more frequent intercourse, and running away. Sexual or physical abuse did not vary by orientation for females. Prevalence of pregnancy also did not vary by orientation (males, 18.6% gay/bisexual vs. 10.4% "unsure" vs. 11.8% heterosexual; females, 25.0% lesbian/bisexual vs. 22.1% "unsure" vs. 21.9% heterosexual). For lesbian/bisexual females, no variables were significantly associated with pregnancy history; for "unsure" females, pregnancy was associated with contraceptive frequency and early onset of heterosexual activity. For heterosexual females, age, intercourse frequency, and physical abuse were associated. For gay/bisexual males, intercourse frequency, ineffective contraception, and physical abuse were associated with involvement in a pregnancy; for "unsure" and heterosexual males, most items except ineffective contraception were related to pregnancy involvement history. CONCLUSIONS: Although prevalence of pregnancy is similar, findings show group differences in associated risk factors by sexual orientation. Interventions to reduce pregnancy among American Indian adolescents should include assessment of sexual orientation and behavioral risk factors.
- See Eighty-three Thousand Youth: Selected Findings of Eight Population-Based Studies. From the Safe-Schools Coalition of Washington, 1999.
DATA ACCESS: unknown/unavailable.