Thesis
Sex education inclusivity: associations with mental and sexual health in sexual minorities
Washington State University
Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
2018
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/103000
Abstract
The impact of inclusivity in sex education represents a significant gap in the literature addressing chronic minority stress in sexual minorities. Although much of the existing research on sexual minority stress has demonstrated more negative sexual and mental health outcomes in sexual minorities compared to heterosexual populations, there has been little exploration on the influences of sex education on these outcomes. In the current study, a measure of perceived inclusivity in sex education was developed to assess the associations between sex education climate and mental health outcomes, including depression, anxiety, and suicidality, as well as sexual risk-taking and substance use behaviors. Greater levels of perceived inclusivity of sex education predicted lower levels of anxiety and depression during and following high school, lower suicidality during high school, and lower risk for developing a suicide plan following high school. Perceived inclusivity did not demonstrate a significant relationship with sexual risktaking and substance use at any time point. I hypothesized that a number of resilience factors, including trait hope, social support, and emotional processing, would moderate these relationships, but no interactions were found. The conclusions suggested by these findings can help guide future directions for research into the clinical impacts of sex education among sexual minority populations.
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Details
- Title
- Sex education inclusivity
- Creators
- Gregory Hans Keiser
- Contributors
- Paul Kwon (Degree Supervisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Psychology, Department of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University; [Pullman, Washington] :
- Identifiers
- 99900525104701842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis