Study title

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

Towards Better Sexual Health was a three-year mixed methods study of sexual attitudes and lifestyles of 14-25-year-old young people in Northern Ireland. The study was undertaken jointly by the University of Ulster and the Family Planning Association (Northern Ireland) (fpaNI) from 2000-2002. The study consisted of a large scale self-administered survey, based on an opportunistic sample, which was completed by 1,013 respondents. Within the study, 71 focus group discussions and 15 one-to-one in-depth interviews were also conducted. Users should note that the UKDA collection contains the quantitative survey only.

The study was initiated by fpaNI due to the failure to include Northern Ireland in the National Surveys of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (NATSAL) which covers Great Britain only (available from the UKDA under GN 33353).

Main Topics:

The first part of the survey questionnaire included background questions, questions on experiences of sex education, attitudes towards different sexual lifestyles, knowledge of sexually transmitted infections and access to, and experience of use of, sexual service providers. This section was completed by all respondents.

The second part of the questionnaire was completed by respondents who had had sex. This part included questions on the age at first sex and age of first sexual partner, experience of first sex, the use and source of contraception(s) (if any), the number of sexual partners as well as the number of pregnancies and pregnancy terminations.

A number of questions duplicate questions asked in the NATSAL studies.