The Effectiveness of a Female Condom Intervention on Women's Use of Condoms.
Deborah Hardwick, Toronto Public Health.

This paper reports the findings of an evaluation of a female condom promotion intervention delivered to 109 socio-economically disadvantaged women at high risk for STI/HIV living in Toronto, Canada who had never used female condoms in the past. The intervention was designed to introduce the female condom to participants and to increase the frequency of their use of either the female or male condom. The percentage of sexual intercourse events protected by either a female or male condom significantly increased from 48.9% at baseline to 70.7% at one-month follow-up and 70.5% at two-month follow-up. Use of the female condom increased from 0% at baseline to 44.7% at one-month and then decreased slightly to 42.3% at the two-month follow-up. Women aged 25 and older, those who were comfortable inserting the female condom, and those who reported liking the female condom were more likely to use it. At the two-month follow-up, 37.5% of participants reported a preference for access to female condoms, 33.7% preferred both male and female condoms, and 28.9% preferred male condoms. This is the first published report on the impact of a female condom promotion intervention conducted in Canada, and, consistent with previous research from the U.S.A., the findings suggest that female condom focused interventions can significantly increase condom use among women at high risk for STI/HIV. (The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 2002; 11: 63-76).

University Students' Uses of and Reactions to Online Sexual Information and Entertainment: Links to Online and Offline Sexual Behaviour.
Sylvain C. Boies, University of Victoria.

This survey of 760 university students assessed their online sexual activities pertaining to dating, education and entertainment, the associations of these online activities with offline sexual behaviour, and their reactions to the sexually explicit material (SEM) they encountered online. Half of the respondents used the Internet to obtain sexual information and said they benefited from it. About 40% went online to meet new people, and to view SEM. Sexual entertainment activities were frequent both online and offline with more men than women engaging in them. A factor analysis identified four clusters of online and offline sexual activity: seeking partners; entertainment; sexual gratification; and in-person exploration. Masturbation while online was more common among those who reacted favourably to online SEM than those who reacted unfavourably. Those who found SEM disturbing or boring were less likely to have masturbated while online although whether or not respondents found online SEM arousing best distinguished between those who did or did not masturbate while online. The implications of the findings for sexual health education and future research are discussed. (The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 2002; 11: 77-90).

Factors Associated with Sexual Intercourse Before Age 15 Among Female Adolescents in Nova Scotia.
Donald B. Langille and Lori Curtis, Dalhousie University.

Cross sectional data from a survey of high school students in northern Nova Scotia were used to test the association of socio-economic status (SES) and other factors, including family structure, school performance, and church attendance, with having intercourse before age 15 among female adolescents. About one half of 1,132 female students aged 15-20 (mean age 16.8) had ever had intercourse and 11.8% of all females had done so before age 15. In univariate analysis, those who had intercourse before age 15 were less likely to live with both parents, to have more educated parents, to have fathers employed full time, and to have higher school grades. They were also less likely to attend church regularly. In logistic regression, living with other than both parents was positively associated with intercourse before age 15, while higher paternal education and more frequent church attendance were negatively associated. Among the young women who had ever had intercourse, those who did so before age 15 were less likely at last intercourse to have used a condom (36.4% vs 55.5%, p<0.001) or contraception (79.2% vs 88.6%, <0.01) and more likely to have had more than one sexual partner (53.5% vs 27.9%, p<0.001). The percentage of young women in this study who had intercourse before age 15 is comparable to other Canadian reports. Awareness of the factors associated with early intercourse can help educators and service providers to better identify and respond to the needs of young women. (The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 2002; 11: 91-100).

Recent Research on Sexual Orientation and Fraternal Birth Order.
Anthony F. Bogaert, Brock University.

Number of older brothers (or "fraternal" birth order) predicts a homosexual orientation in men but not in women. In this paper, I review recent research on the fraternal birth order effect. For example, I present a recent study using two national probability samples that indicates that number of older brothers increases homosexual attraction but not homosexual behaviour/experience in men. In addition, I present a study using Canadian data indicating that fraternal birth order may interact with height to predict sexual orientation in men such that a homosexual orientation is most likely to occur in men who have a high number of older brothers and a shorter stature. Results of these and other recent studies are discussed in relation to biological and psychosocial theories of the fraternal birth order effect. (The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 2002; 11: 101-107).