Sexual activity and sexual
experiences:
why sex?
Anthony Smith, Juliet Richters, Chris Rissel, Richard de Visser, Judy Simpson,
Andrew Grulich & Paul Badcock
Australian Study of Health & Relationships
www.ashr.edu.au
Australian Studies of Health & Relationships
Aim
ASHR1 (2001/2)
ASHR2 (2012/3)
representative prevalence
study of the sexual and
reproductive health of
Australian adults aged 16–59
representative prevalence
study of the sexual and
reproductive health of
Australian adults aged 16–69;
to describe changes in the
sexual and reproductive health
of Australian adults aged 16–59
between 2001/2 and 2012/13;
Sample size
19,307
20,000 est.
Strata
29
2?
Method
CATI; English only
CATI; English only
Sampling
mRDD LLO
mRDD LL+M ?
Interview length
Ave 17.6 mins (6.5-99.6)
Ave 20 minutes
Australian Study of Health & Relationships
www.ashr.edu.au
Percent
15
ASHR1: Lifetime sexual experience
(% any same-sex)
10
5
0
M 16-19
M 20-24
M 25-59
F 16-19
Australian Study of Health & Relationships
F 20-24
F 25-59
www.ashr.edu.au
ASHR1: Age at first vaginal intercourse
(% < 16 years)
30
Percent
25
20
15
10
M 16-19
M 20-24
M 25-59
F 16-19
Australian Study of Health & Relationships
F 20-24
F 25-59
www.ashr.edu.au
ASHR1: More than 1 sexual partner in the last year
while in a regular heterosexual relationship of more than
12 months (% yes)
25
Percent
20
15
10
5
0
M 16-19
M 20-24
M 25-59
F 16-19
Australian Study of Health & Relationships
F 20-24
F 25-59
www.ashr.edu.au
Dual frame additional consent:
“The next few questions ask about your sexual
activity and sexual experiences. If you prefer not
to answer these I can just skip over them.”
Australian Study of Health & Relationships
www.ashr.edu.au
Percent consenting to sex
questions
100
90
80
70
60
MO
MD
LD
Australian Study of Health & Relationships
LO
www.ashr.edu.au
Percent consenting by gender
100
90
80
70
60
Men
Women
Australian Study of Health & Relationships
www.ashr.edu.au
Percent consenting by age
group
100
90
80
70
60
18-24
25-39
40-49
50-64
Australian Study of Health & Relationships
65-74
75+
www.ashr.edu.au
Percent consenting by education
100
90
80
70
60
≤ 10 years
11 years
12 years
Australian Study of Health & Relationships
> 12 years
www.ashr.edu.au
Sexual experience - both frames
100
80
60
40
20
0
Australian Study of Health & Relationships
www.ashr.edu.au
Same sex contact by frame
25
20
15
10
5
0
Male - Female Male - Female Male - Female Male - Female
MO
- MO
MD
- MD
LD
- LD
LO
- LO
Australian Study of Health & Relationships
www.ashr.edu.au
Opposite sex partners in last year - both frames
80
60
40
20
0
Male 0
Female 0
Male 1
Female 1
Australian Study of Health & Relationships
Male 2+
Female 2+
www.ashr.edu.au
Opposite sex partners in last year – men by frame
80
60
40
20
0
MO 0 MO 1 MO MD 0 MD 1 MD 2+ LD 0 LD 1 LD 2+ LO 0 LO 1 LO 2+
2+
Australian Study of Health & Relationships
www.ashr.edu.au
Opposite sex partners in last year – women by frame
80
60
40
20
0
MO 0 MO 1 MO MD 0 MD 1 MD 2+ LD 0 LD 1 LD 2+ LO 0 LO 1 LO 2+
2+
Australian Study of Health & Relationships
www.ashr.edu.au
Summary
1 There is evidence that mobiles and landlines access different populations
simply in terms of consent for participation in sex-related research
2 There is evidence that mobile and landline samples differ with respect to the
extent of reported same-sex contact but only for women – not men
3 There is evidence that mobile and landline samples differ with respect to the
extent of reported opposite-sex contact but the differences appear to be
more extreme for women than for men