Methodological Challenges in Developing a Youth Questionnaire, Life & Health Young People, for Comparative Studies in Thailand and Sweden: About Bridging the Language Gap Between Two Non-English-Speaking Countries.

PURPOSE: To develop a Thai questionnaire ชีวิตและสุขภาพของวัยรุ่นในประเทศไทย (TYQ) to explore girls' and boys' living conditions, lifestyles, and self-reported health with special focus on sexuality, based on a Swedish questionnaire, Liv & Hälsa ung (SYQ). Challenges in developing a youth questionnaire for comparative studies are described. DESIGN: A multistep translation, sociocultural adaptation procedure, and a mixed-method validation test were performed using English as a common language within the research group. Three versions of SYQ were used as a pool of questions to develop the questionnaire. FINDINGS: From a field test, unclear questions were identified and minor adjustments made. Life & Health Young People in a Thai version was successfully developed. The English version was used to bridge the language gap. CONCLUSION: This unique multistep methodology, including mixed-method validation procedure, can be used by researchers in countries where English is not the main language.

Sexual force at sexual debut. Swedish adolescents with disabilities at higher risk than adolescents without disabilities.

UNLABELLED: The aims of this study are first to compare the incidence of force on the first occasion of sexual intercourse reported by participants with disabilities to that of students without disabilities; second to determine whether there are significant differences in mental health, substance abuse, and school performance as reported by participants forced into their sexual debut as opposed to those who were not forced, analysed by gender; and finally to identify the significant variables that predict girls reporting force at sexual debut as opposed to girls not reporting force, as well as to identify similar variables within the male group. There were no data on sexual abuse prior to the first occasion of full sexual intercourse. METHOD: This cross-sectional study is based on 2 surveys: Life and Health---Young People 2005 and 2007. All 17/18-year-old adolescents in upper-secondary schools in a county in Sweden were asked the same questions both years. A total of 2,254 students completed the survey in 2005 and 2,641 in 2007. RESULTS: The main finding is that force at sexual debut (intercourse) is more common among adolescents with a disability (4.0%) than those not reporting any disability (1.6%), and is most common among those reporting multiple disabilities (10.4%). This was found both for girls and boys, even if the rates for girls were several times higher. Other findings are that girls and boys reporting force at sexual debut (disability and non-disability groups taken together) reported different profiles. For girls, their country of origin and who they live with are significant. This background data is not significant for boys. Boys report a strong psychosomatic reaction. CONCLUSION: Culture-, functionality-, and gender-sensitive studies of adolescents' reactions to sexual abuse are needed to help determine relevant and effective interventions.

Tinnitus and hearing loss in 15-16-year-old students: mental health symptoms, substance use, and exposure in school.

The current study assessed the responses from a survey titled 'Life and Health - Young People 2005', completed by 2878 15-16-year-old adolescents in mainstream schools in the county of Orebro, Sweden. Thirty-nine percent of students with hearing loss (slight, mild, or moderate) and 6% of students with normal hearing reported tinnitus often or always during the past three months. Almost no gender difference was observed among students with normal-hearing reporting tinnitus (boys 6.3%, girls 5.6%); however, a gender difference was noticed among hard-of-hearing (HH) students (boys 50%, girls 28%). Adolescents with both hearing loss and tinnitus reported considerably higher scores for mental health symptoms, substance use, and school problems than other students. Anxiety in the past three months, male gender, and alcohol consumption in the past year were associated with tinnitus in HH students; irritation and anxiety in the past three months, disability, use of illicit drugs, and truancy predicted tinnitus in the normal-hearing group. Consequently, students with a hearing loss and tinnitus are at high risk and should be monitored for subsequent problems.

Self-rated mental health, school adjustment, and substance use in hard-of-hearing adolescents.

This survey, "Life and Health-Young People 2005," included all 15/16-year-old adolescents in mainstream schools in the county of Orebro, Sweden. Just students with a slight/mild or moderate hearing loss were included. There were 56 (1.9%) "hard-of-hearing (HH) students with multiple disabilities," 93 (3.1%) students who were "just HH," 282 (9.7%) students with some "other disability than HH," and 2,488 (85.2%) students with "no disability." "HH with multiple disabilities" reported considerably higher scores for mental symptoms, substance use, and school problems than the "no disability" group. Those with "just HH" and those with "other disability than HH" had more mental symptoms and school problems than the "no disability" group but no significant differences in substance use. In conclusion, the combination of a hearing loss and some other disability strongly increases the risk for mental symptoms, school problems, and substance use. This group, thus, is an important target for preventive measures.