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Doing More Good than Harm? The Effects of Participation in Sex Research on Young People in the Netherlands

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Abstract

Ethical guidelines for research with human participants stress the importance of minimizing risks and maximizing benefits. In order to assist Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) and researchers to make more informed risk/benefit analyses with regard to sex research among adolescents, the current study examined the effects of participation in sex research among 899 young people (15–25 years old). Participants completed three questionnaires on a wide range of sexuality-related measures. They also completed scales measuring their levels of distress, need for help, and positive feelings due to their research participation. In general, negative effects of research participation seemed limited, while benefits of participation appeared substantial. Several differences with regard to sociodemographic characteristics were found (e.g., females experienced more distress then males and younger or lower educated participants experienced more positive feelings). In addition, victims of sexual coercion reported more distress and need for help due to their participation, but also experienced more positive feelings. No significant differences were found in relation to experience with sexual risk behaviors (e.g., experience with one-night-stands). Several limitations of the study were discussed, as were implications for future research. Overall, the findings caution IRBs and researchers against being overly protective regarding the inclusion of young people in sex research.

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Notes

  1. Age, religion, and number of sexual partners were originally measured with continuous scales. The items were dichotomized to enhance comparability across the different independent variables and ensure more clarity to the reader. Analyses were also run with the original continuous variables and no different results were found.

  2. The original SES was adapted in several ways, due to cultural and language differences and the fact that the current study used a young sample that also consisted of adolescents from lower educational level. The revision was based on feedback from a pilot group of young people, the advisory board of the study, and an expert in youth communication. The revision was made in collaboration with the author of the original scale (M. P. Koss, personal communications, November 19, 2008; November 24, 2008; January 5, 2009). The short version of the SES was used, but two items from the long version were also included. Several extensive items were either shortened or split into separate items. The “attempt” items were excluded. The phrase “while I did not want to” was added to the questions regarding verbal pressure. Following the suggestion of Price and Byers (1999), the response options “never,” “once,” and “more than once” were used instead of the original response options “0/1/2/3/3+”.

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Acknowledgments

The data used in the current study were collected as part of a study on sexual coercion among young people, which was funded by ZonMw (The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development) (Grant number 124260002). We would like to thank Mirre Hubers of ZonMw for reminding us of the importance of addressing the effects of research participation of young people.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rutgers Nisso Groep, P.O. Box 9022, 3506 GA, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Lisette Kuyper

  2. Department of Social Psychology, University of Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    John de Wit & Liesbeth Woertman

  3. National Centre in HIV Social Research, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

    John de Wit & Philippe Adam

  4. Institute for Prevention and Social Research, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Philippe Adam

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  1. Lisette Kuyper
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  2. John de Wit
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  4. Liesbeth Woertman
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Correspondence to Lisette Kuyper.

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Kuyper, L., de Wit, J., Adam, P. et al. Doing More Good than Harm? The Effects of Participation in Sex Research on Young People in the Netherlands. Arch Sex Behav 41, 497–506 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-011-9780-y

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