population health
Eisenberg, M.E., Toumbourou, J., Catalano, R. & Hemphill, S. (2014). Social norms and substance use behaviours in a longitudinal study of adolescents in the US and Australia. Journal of Adolescent Health, 54(2), S8.
Purpose: Substance use among adolescents in the United States and Australia leads to morbidity and mortality in both locations. The present study builds on social norms theory and existing research by examining two aggregated measures of social norms in the school setting and their associations with alcohol, tobacco and marijuana use two years later in […]
Gilbert M., Roberts A., Mitchell K., Homma Y., Warf C., Daly L.K., Saewyc E.M. (2013). P3.315. Does adjusting for sexual behaviour improve the accuracy of population-based Chlamydia incidence and screening rates among adolescents in British Columbia, Canada? [abstract] Sexually Transmitted Infections, Volume 89, Suppl 1, pages A247-A248.
Background: Recent studies using setting-specific health insurance or clinical datasets have demonstrated the importance of considering sexual activity when calculating Chlamydia incidence and screening rates, particularly for adolescents. Using data from a provincial adolescent health survey we assessed the impact of adjusting for sexual activity on population-based Chlamydia incidence and screening rates among adolescents in […]
Magtoto J., Cox D., Saewyc E. (2013). Body satisfaction and eating disordered pathology among immigrant adolescents in North America. International Journal of School and Educational Psychology, 1, 13-19.
Using a province-wide school-based health survey, this article investigated body satisfaction as a mediator of the association between eating disorder behaviors and immigrant status. Participants were a sample of adolescent girls (n = 15,066) and boys (n = 14,200) who completed the 2008 McCreary Centre Society Adolescent Health Survey IV. Hypotheses were tested with general […]
Konishi C., Saewyc E, Homma Y, & Poon C. (2013). Population-level evaluation of school-based interventions to prevent problem substance use among gay, lesbian and bisexual adolescents in Canada. Preventive Medicine. Doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2013.06.031.
Objective: This study examined whether students’ odds of recent substance use were lower in the presence of gay-straight alliances or explicit anti-homophobia policy that had been established at their school recently, or at least 3 years prior. Methods: We analyzed a population-based sample of students in grades 8 through 12 from the British Columbia Adolescent […]
Homma Y, Wang N, Saewyc E, Kishor N. (2012). The relationship between sexual abuse and risky sexual behavior among adolescent boys: A meta-analysis. Journal of Adolescent Health, 51, 18-24.
Childhood and adolescent sexual abuse has been shown to lead to increased odds of sexual behaviors that lead to sexually transmitted infections and early pregnancy involvement. Research, meta-analyses, and interventions, however, have focused primarily on girls and young women who have experienced abuse, yet some adolescent boys are also sexually abused. We performed a meta-analysis […]
Homma Y, Nicholson D, & Saewyc E. (2012). A profile of high school students in rural Canada who exchange sex for substances. Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 21(1), 29-40.
The exchange of sexual activities for money, drugs, or other compensation is considered a form of sexual exploitation when it occurs among underage youth. Such practices have been associated with sexual behaviours that increase the risk of sexually transmitted infections. Much of the research on this issue has been conducted on homeless or street-involved youth […]
Saewyc E, Chen W. (2013). To what extent can adolescent suicide attempts be attributed to violence exposure? A population-based study from Western Canada. Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health, 32, 79-94.
Suicide is the second leading cause of death among adolescents in Canada and globally. The purpose of our study was to calculate what proportion of adolescent suicide attempts could be prevented in the absence of verbal, physical, and sexual violence. Using the province-wide 2008 British Columbia Adolescent Health Survey (N = 29,315) we calculated population-attributable […]
Saewyc E., Rivers R., Creighton G., Drozda C., Roelefson D., & Oliffe J. (2012). The XY Factor: The State of Boys’ and Young Men’s Health in British Columbia. University of British Columbia.
This report brings together population-level data, where it exists, about the health indicators for boys (12 to 18 years) and young men (19 to 25 years) in British Columbia. Some of the data offers comparisons to girls and young women, while other data examines trends in health issues over time, or highlights different groups of […]
Smith, A., Poon, C., Stewart, D., Hoogeveen, C., Saewyc, E. & the McCreary Centre Society. (2011). Making the Right Connections: Promoting Positive Mental Health Among BC Youth.Vancouver, BC: McCreary Centre Society.
This report is focused on the mental health of youth aged 12-19. It uses data from the 2008 BC Adolescent Health Survey (AHS) and information provided by youth who participated in discussions of the results. The report provides an overview of the mental health of BC youth, considers some groups of youth who are at […]
Miller B., Cox D., Saewyc E. (2010). Age of sexual consent laws in Canada: Population-based evidence for law and policy. Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 19(3), 105-119.
This study evaluated the implications of the 2008 increase in age for sexual consent in Canada using a population health survey of Canadian adolescents. Government rationales for the increase asserted younger adolescents were more likely to experience sexual exploitation and engage in risky sexual behaviour than adolescents 16 and older. Using data from sexually experienced […]
Saewyc, E., Homma, Y., Skay, C., Bearinger, L., Resnick, M., & Reis, E. (2009). Protective factors in the lives of bisexual adolescents in North America. American Journal of Public Health, 99 (1), 110-117.
We compared protective factors among bisexual adolescents with those of heterosexual, mostly heterosexual, and gay or lesbian adolescents. We analyzed 6 school-based surveys in Minnesota and British Columbia. Sexual orientation was measured by gender of sexual partners, attraction, or self-labeling. Protective factors included family connectedness, school connectedness, and religious involvement. General linear models, conducted separately […]
Devries K, Free C, Morison L, Saewyc E. (2009). Factors associated with sexual behaviour of Aboriginal youth: Implications for health promotion. American Journal of Public Health, 99, 855-862.
We examined factors associated with having ever had sex, having more than 1 lifetime sexual partner, and condom nonuse at last incident of sexual intercourse among Canadian Aboriginal young people. We conducted a secondary analysis of data from the 2003 British Columbia Adolescent Health Survey, a cross-sectional survey of young people in grades 7 through […]
Devries K, Free C, Morison L, Saewyc E. (2009). Factors associated with pregnancy and STI among Aboriginal students in British Columbia. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 100(3), 226-230.
Aboriginal adolescents are more likely to become pregnant and contract an STI than other Canadian adolescents. This study provides some of the first data on factors associated with these outcomes among Aboriginal adolescents. A secondary analysis was conducted using 2003 data from a large cross-sectional survey of British Columbia secondary school students. 445 young women […]
Stockwell T, Buxton J, Duff C, Marsh D, MacDonald S, SAEWYC E, Richard K, Hanson R, Cohen I, Corrado R, Chow C, Ivsins A, Michelow W, Nicholson D, Pakula B, Puri A, Rehm J, Sturge J, Tu A, & Zhao J. (2009). The BC Alcohol and Other Drug Monitoring System: Overview and early progress. Contemporary Drug Problems, 36, 459-484.
This pilot project is a province-wide and nationally-supported collaboration intended to add value to existing monitoring and surveillance exercises that currently exist and are being developed in Canada. The fundamental aim is to create a system that generates a timely flow of data on hazardous patterns of substance use and related harms so as to […]
Saewyc, E., MacKay L., Anderson, J, and Drozda, C. (2008). It’s not what you think: Sexually exploited youth in British Columbia. Vancouver: University of British Columbia School of Nursing.
The images of sexual exploitation of youth in Canada are pervasive and stereotyped, most commonly depicting an older teen girl in a short skirt and high heels standing on a street corner. The stereotypes of sexually exploited youth are wrong. The research in this report shatters some of the myths about sexual exploitation among youth […]
Saewyc E, Bingham B, Brunanski D, Smith A, Hunt S, Northcott M, & the McCreary Centre Society. (2008). Moving Upstream: Aboriginal Marginalized and Street-Involved Youth in B.C. Vancouver, B.C.: McCreary Centre Society.
In 2000 the McCreary Centre Society conducted a health survey of marginalized and street-involved youth in six communities across British Columbia. The study was repeated in nine communities in 2006 and was completed by 762 youth, 410 of whom identified as Aboriginal (54%). In the communities that participated in both surveys there was a rise […]
Saewyc, E., Poon, C., Homma, Y,. & Skay, C. (2008). Stigma management? The links between enacted stigma and teen pregnancy trends among gay, lesbian, and bisexual students in British Columbia. Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 17(3) 123-139.
Over the past decade, several large-scale school-based studies of adolescents in Canada and the U.S. have documented health disparities for lesbian, gay and bisexual teens compared to their heterosexual peers, such as higher rates of suicide attempts, homelessness, and substance use. Many of these disparities have been linked to “enacted stigma,” or the higher rates […]
Saewyc E, Tonkin R. (2008). Surveying adolescents: Focusing on positive development. Paediatrics & Child Health, 13(1), 43-47.
Although risk behaviours can threaten healthy youth development, reducing risks alone is not sufficient to help youth successfully negotiate adolescence. Promoting protective factors that buffer risk, such as family and school connectedness, community engagement and positive peer support, are also important for helping youth to thrive. Since 1992, the Adolescent Health Surveys conducted by McCreary […]
Parkes S, Saewyc EM, MacKay LJ, Cox D. (2008). The relationship between body image, dieting behaviors, and stimulant use among adolescents in British Columbia. Journal of Adolescent health, 43(6), 616-618.
This study investigated the relationship between body image, dieting, disordered eating behaviors, and stimulant use in a sample of more than 30,000 British Columbian students. For both males and females, significant associations were found between stimulant use and body satisfaction, binging and purging, and efforts to lose weight. Find article here.
Chen W., Bottorff J, Johnson J, Saewyc E, Zumbo B. (2008). Susceptibility to smoking among White and Chinese non-smoking adolescents in Canada. Public Health Nursing, 25 (1), 18-27.
This study aimed to document the prevalence of susceptibility to smoking among a sample of White/Caucasian and Chinese Canadian adolescent nonsmokers, and to explore the factors that might explain who is susceptible to smoking. This study used a secondary analysis of data from students participating in the British Columbia Youth Survey on Smoking and Health […]
